Proverbs 19:21

There are many plans ¹  in a person’s mind, ²  but it ³  is the counsel ⁴  of the Lord which will stand.

Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

Many plans are in a man’s heart, But the counsel of the LORD will stand.

You can make many plans, but the LORD’s purpose will prevail.

We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but GOD's purpose prevails.

A man’s heart may be full of designs, but the purpose of the Lord is unchanging.

The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established.

There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’S counsel––that will stand.

There are many plans ¹  in a person’s mind, ²  but it ³  is the counsel ⁴  of the Lord which will stand.

¹ sn The plans (from the Hebrew verb חָשַׁב [khashav], “to think; to reckon; to devise”) in the human heart are many. But only those which God approves will succeed.

² tn Heb “in the heart of a man” (cf. NAB, NIV). Here “heart” is used for the seat of thoughts, plans, and reasoning, so the translation uses “mind.” In contemporary English “heart” is more often associated with the seat of emotion than with the seat of planning and reasoning.

³ tn Heb “but the counsel of the Lord, it will stand.” The construction draws attention to the “counsel of the Lord”; it is an independent nominative absolute, and the resumptive independent pronoun is the formal subject of the verb.

⁴ tn The antithetical parallelism pairs “counsel” with “plans.” “Counsel of the Lord” (עֲצַת יְהוָה, ’atsat yehvah) is literally “advice” or “counsel” with the connotation of “plan” in this context (cf. NIV, NRSV, NLT “purpose”; NCV “plan”; TEV “the Lord’s will”).

sn The point of the proverb is that the human being with many plans is uncertain, but the Lord with a sure plan gives correct counsel.