New English Translation
Ecclesiastes 7:13
13Consider the work of God: For who can make straight what he 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, like an inheritance, is a good thing; it benefits those who see the light of day. 12For wisdom provides protection, just as money provides protection. But the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves the life of its owner. Consider the work of God: For who can make straight what he has bent? 14In times of prosperity be joyful, but in times of adversity consider this: God has made one as well as the other, so that no one can discover what the future holds. 15During the days of my fleeting life I have seen both of these things: Sometimes a righteous person dies prematurely in spite of his righteousness, and sometimes a wicked person lives long in spite of his evil deeds.
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“Pay attention to this, Job! Stand still and consider the wonders God works.
- Psalms 8:3When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made, and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,
- Psalms 107:43Whoever is wise, let him take note of these things! Let them consider the Lord’s acts of loyal love!
- Isaiah 5:12They have stringed instruments, tambourines, flutes, and wine at their parties. So they do not recognize what the Lord is doing, they do not perceive what he is bringing about.
- Ecclesiastes 1:15What is bent cannot be straightened, and what is missing cannot be supplied.
- Job 9:12If he snatches away, who can turn him back? Who dares to say to him, ‘What are you doing?’
- Job 11:10If he comes by and confines you and convenes a court, then who can prevent him?
- Job 12:14If he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt; if he imprisons a person, there is no escape.
- Job 34:29But if God is quiet, who can condemn him? If he hides his face, then who can see him? Yet he is over the individual and the nation alike,
- Isaiah 14:27Indeed, the Lord who commands armies has a plan, and who can possibly frustrate it? His hand is ready to strike, and who can possibly stop it?
- Isaiah 43:13From this day forward I am he; no one can deliver from my power; I will act, and who can prevent it?”
- Isaiah 46:10who announces the end from the beginning and reveals beforehand what has not yet occurred, who says, ‘My plan will be realized, I will accomplish what I desire,’
- Daniel 4:35All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he wishes with the army of heaven and with those who inhabit the earth. No one slaps his hand and says to him, ‘What have you done?’
- Romans 9:15For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Ephesians 1:11In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will
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
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