# The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of Yahweh

The writer speaks of the king's heart as if it were an irrigation ditch in a dry area through which people direct water to plants that need it. AT: "Yahweh controls the king's heart as a man directs water for irrigation" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# The king's heart

The heart is a metaphor for what a person thinks and what he wants to do. AT: "The king's thoughts and actions" or "What the king thinks and what he wants to do" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])

# Every person's way is right in his own eyes

The eyes represent seeing, and seeing represents thoughts or judgment. The writer speaks of what a person does as if it that person were walking down a path. AT: "Every person thinks that what he does is good" or "Every person judges what he does as good" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]])

# who weighs the hearts

The writer speaks of Yahweh deciding whether a person desires to do what is right as if Yahweh were looking at a physical object and deciding whether it is of good quality. AT: "who will judge the motives" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metaphor]] and [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-metonymy]])