Translations
KJVPrimary
King James VersionHe feedeth on ashes: a deceived heart hath turned him aside, that he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?
F.O.G.Secondary
The F.O.GHe is a feeder on ash — a deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot rescue his own nephesh, nor even bring himself to ask, 'Is there not a lie in my right hand?'
F.O.G.M.
F.O.G MessageHe feeds on ashes — a deceived heart has led him off the path. He cannot save his own soul, and he cannot bring himself to ask, 'Isn't what I'm clutching in my right hand a lie?'
BSB
Berean Standard BibleHe feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
Footnotes
*Nephesh* (נֶפֶשׁ) is one of the richest and most untranslatable words in Biblical Hebrew. Literally 'throat' or 'gullet,' it extends to mean breath, life, self, desire, and whole being — the living person in their full embodied vitality. 'He cannot deliver his *nephesh*' means he cannot save his very life and self — the bitter irony being that the idol he cried 'deliver me!' to (v. 17) is equally powerless. FOG retains *nephesh* to preserve the embodied resonance; FOG Message uses 'soul' as the closest English approximation of the whole person.
