God’s Word Translation
Ecclesiastes 7:13
13Consider what God has done! Who can straighten what God has bent?
Ecclesiastes 7:13 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
- New International Version (NIV)Consider what God has done: Who can straighten what he has made crooked?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Consider the work of God: who can make straight what he has made crooked?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Consider the work of God; For who can make straight what He has made crooked?
Context of Ecclesiastes 7:13
11Wisdom is as good as an inheritance. It is an advantage to everyone who sees the sun. 12Wisdom protects us just as money protects us, but the advantage of wisdom is that it gives life to those who have it. Consider what God has done! Who can straighten what God has bent? 14When times are good, be happy. But when times are bad, consider this: God has made the one time as well as the other so that mortals cannot predict their future. 15I have seen it all in my pointless life: Righteous people die in spite of being righteous. Wicked people go on living in spite of being wicked.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 7Ecclesiastes 7:13 word by word
רְאֵ֖ה אֶת־מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים כִּ֣י מִ֤י יוּכַל֙ לְתַקֵּ֔ן אֵ֖ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר עִוְּתֽוֹ׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 7:13
- Job 37:14“Open your ears to this, Job. Stop and consider God’s miracles.
- Psalms 8:3When I look at your heavens, the creation of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have set in place—
- Psalms 107:43Let those who ⌞think⌟ they are wise pay attention to these things so that they may understand the Lord’s blessings.
- Isaiah 5:12At their feasts there are lyres and harps, tambourines and flutes, and wine. Yet, they don’t pay attention to what the Lord is doing or see what his hands have done.
- Ecclesiastes 1:15No one can straighten what is bent. No one can count what is not there.
- Job 9:12He takes something away, ⌞but⌟ who can stop him? Who is going to ask him, ‘What are you doing?’
- Job 11:10If God comes along and imprisons ⌞someone⌟ and then calls a court into session, who can stop him?
- Job 12:14When he tears ⌞something⌟ down, it cannot be rebuilt. When he puts someone in prison, that person cannot be freed.
- Job 34:29If he keeps quiet, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, who can see him whether it is a nation or a single person?
- Isaiah 14:27The Lord of Armies has planned it. Who can stop it? He is ready to use his power. Who can turn it back?
- Isaiah 43:13“From the ⌞first⌟ day I was the one ⌞who did this⌟. No one can rescue people from my power. When I do something, who can undo it?”
- Isaiah 46:10From the beginning I revealed the end. From long ago I told you things that had not yet happened, saying, “My plan will stand, and I’ll do everything I intended to do.”
- Daniel 4:35Everyone who lives on earth is nothing compared to him. He does whatever he wishes with the army of heaven and with those who live on earth. There is no one who can oppose him or ask him, “What are you doing?”
- Romans 9:15For example, God said to Moses, “I will be kind to anyone I want to. I will be merciful to anyone I want to.”
- Ephesians 1:11God also decided ahead of time to choose us through Christ according to his plan, which makes everything work the way he intends.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7:13
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 13Consider the work of God - Such is the nature of his providence, that it puts money into the hands of few: but wisdom is within the reach of all. The first is not necessary to happiness; therefore, it is not offered to men; the latter is; and therefore God, in his goodness, offers it to the whole human race. The former can rarely be acquired, for God puts it out of the reach of most men, and you cannot make that straight which he has made crooked; the…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 13The work of God - The scheme of Divine Providence, the course of events which God orders and controls (compare Ecclesiastes 3:11). It comprises both events which are “straight,” i. e., in accordance with our expectation, and events which are “crooked,” i. e., which by their seeming inequality baffle our comprehension.Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-22Verses 11-22 Wisdom is as good as an inheritance, yea better. It shelters from the storms and scorching heat of trouble. Wealth will not lengthen out the natural life; but true wisdom will give spiritual life, and strengthen men for services under their sufferings. Let us look upon the disposal of our condition as the work of God, and at last all will appear to have been for the best. In acts of righteousness, be not carried into heats or passions, no…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13God's powerful actions cannot be resisted; trying to oppose or escape his plans is pointless.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1313. Consider as to God's work, that it is impossible to alter His dispensations; for who can, &c. straight ... crooked--Man cannot amend what God wills to be "wanting" and "adverse" (Ec 1:15; Job 12:14).Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 7:13
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 7
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
God’s Word Translation — © 1995 God’s Word to the Nations Bible Society
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