Proverbs 21:1

The king’s heart ¹  is in the hand ²  of the Lord like channels of water; ³  he turns it wherever he wants.

The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD; he directs it like a watercourse wherever he pleases.

The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.

The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the LORD; he turns it wherever he pleases.

Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God; he directs it to whatever ends he chooses.

The king’s heart in the hands of the Lord is like the water streams, and by him it is turned in any direction at his pleasure.

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.

The king’s heart ¹  is in the hand ²  of the Lord like channels of water; ³  he turns it wherever he wants.

¹ sn “Heart” is a metonymy of subject; it signifies the ability to make decisions, if not the decisions themselves.

² sn “Hand” in this passage is a personification; the word is frequently used idiomatically for “power,” and that is the sense intended here.

³ tn “Channels of water” (פַּלְגֵי, palge) is an adverbial accusative, functioning as a figure of comparison – “like channels of water.” Cf. NAB “Like a stream”; NIV “watercourse”; NRSV, NLT “a stream of water.”

sn The farmer channels irrigation ditches where he wants them, where they will do the most good; so does the Lord with the king. No king is supreme; the Lord rules.