^8:21And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma³¹ and said³² to himself,³³ “I will never again curse³⁴ the ground because of humankind, even though³⁵ the inclination of their minds³⁶ is evil from childhood on.³⁷ I will never again destroy everything that lives, as I have just done.

Read in Logos

Footnotes

31 The Lord “smelled” (וַיָּרַח, vayyarakh) a “soothing smell” (רֵיחַ הַנִּיהֹחַ, reakh hannihoakh). The object forms a cognate accusative with the verb. The language is anthropomorphic. The offering had a sweet aroma that pleased or soothed. The expression in Lev 1 signifies that God accepts the offering with pleasure, and in accepting the offering he accepts the worshiper.
32 Heb “and the Lord said.”
33 Heb “in his heart.”
34 Here the Hebrew word translated “curse” is קָלָל (qalal), used in the Piel verbal stem.
35 The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) can be used in a concessive sense (see 473 כִּי), which makes good sense in this context. Its normal causal sense (“for”) does not fit the context here very well.
36 Heb “the inclination of the heart of humankind.”
37 Heb “from his youth.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

And when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, the Lord said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

When the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma, he said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings, even though the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth onward. And I will never again strike down every living thing as I have done.

NLTNew Living Translation

And the Lord was pleased with the aroma of the sacrifice and said to himself, “I will never again curse the ground because of the human race, even though everything they think or imagine is bent toward evil from childhood. I will never again destroy all living things.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

And Yahweh smelled the soothing fragrance, and Yahweh said to himself, “Never again will I curse the ground for the sake of humankind, because the inclination of the heart of humankind is evil from his youth. Nor will I ever again destroy all life as I have done.

KJV 1900King James Version

And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.

Public Domain