Proverbs 20:9

Modern

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?

Traditional

Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?

Literal

Who can say, “I have made clean my heart; I have been cleansed from my sin?

Latin

Quis potest dicere: Mundum est cor meum; purus sum a peccato?

Hebrew

English

Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am cleansed from my sin”?

Wise people know their own weaknesses. Pride stops people from seeing their faults (Proverbs 6:17–18; 11:2; 13:10; 15:33; 16:18; 18:12; see also 1 John 1:8–10).

Theme notes and profiles

Ecclesiastes 7:20
Surely there is no righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
1 John 1:8–10
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Job 14:4
Who can bring out clean from unclean? No one!
1 Kings 8:46
When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to his own land, whether far or near,
Job 15:14
What is man, that he should be pure, or one born of woman, that he should be righteous?
1 Corinthians 4:4
My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me.
James 3:2
We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to control his whole body.
Job 25:4
How then can a man be just before God? How can one born of woman be pure?
Psalm 51:5
Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me.
2 Chronicles 6:36
When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and deliver them to an enemy who takes them as captives to a land far or near,