Proverbs 21:1

BSB · Public Domain (CC0)

“The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.”

What this verse means

A short, plain-language explanation of Proverbs 21:1 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.

Compare translations
BSBPD

“The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.”

Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)
KJVPD

“The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”

King James Version · Public Domain
ASVPD

“The king’s heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the watercourses: He turneth it whithersoever he will.”

American Standard Version · Public Domain
YLTPD

“Rivulets of waters <FI>is<Fi> the heart of a king in the hand of Jehovah, Wherever He pleaseth He inclineth it.”

Young's Literal Translation · Public Domain
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Cross references

Other passages that echo Proverbs 21:1 — 24 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

  1. Exodus 7:3But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I will multiply My signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,
  2. 2 Kings 19:33He will go back the way he came, and he will not enter this city,’ declares the LORD.
  3. Ezra 1:1In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken through Jeremiah, the LORD stirred the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia to send a proclamation throughout his kingdom and to put it in writing as follows:
  4. Ezra 1:2“This is what Cyrus king of Persia says: ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, who has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, has appointed me to build a house for Him at Jerusalem in Judah.
  5. Ezra 6:22For seven days they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread with joy, because the LORD had made them joyful and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them to strengthen their hands in the work on the house of the God of Israel.
  6. Ezra 7:27Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem,
  7. Nehemiah 1:11O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)
  8. Nehemiah 2:4“What is your request?” replied the king. So I prayed to the God of heaven
  9. Nehemiah 2:8And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the king’s forest, so that he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house I will occupy.” And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.
  10. Esther 2:17And the king loved Esther more than all the other women, and she found grace and favor in his sight more than all of the other virgins. So he placed the royal crown upon her head and made her queen in place of Vashti.
  11. Psalms 74:15You broke open the fountain and the flood; You dried up the ever-flowing rivers.
  12. Psalms 93:4Above the roar of many waters— the mighty breakers of the sea— the LORD on high is majestic.
  13. Psalms 105:25whose hearts He turned to hate His people, to conspire against His servants.
  14. Psalms 106:46He made them objects of compassion to all who held them captive.
  15. Psalms 114:3The sea observed and fled; the Jordan turned back;
  16. Psalms 114:5Why was it, O sea, that you fled, O Jordan, that you turned back,
  17. Proverbs 16:1The plans of the heart belong to man, but the reply of the tongue is from the LORD.
  18. Proverbs 16:9A man’s heart plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps.
  19. Proverbs 20:24A man’s steps are from the LORD, so how can anyone understand his own way?
  20. Isaiah 43:19Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
  21. Isaiah 44:27who says to the depths of the sea, ‘Be dry, and I will dry up your currents,’
  22. Jeremiah 39:12“Take him, look after him, and do not let any harm come to him; do for him whatever he says.”
  23. Daniel 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
  24. Acts 7:10and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

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