Verse 2

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search it out.

Other Translations

Referenced Verses

  • 1 Kgs 3:9-9 : 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between good and evil, for who is able to govern this great people of yours? 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked this. 11 God said to him, "Since you have asked for this and not for long life, wealth for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but for discernment in administering justice, 12 behold, I have done what you asked. I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has never been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 I have also given you what you did not ask for: both wealth and honor, so that in your lifetime no king will compare to you. 14 If you walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and commandments as your father David did, then I will prolong your days. 15 Then Solomon awoke, and it was a dream. He came to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and held a feast for all his servants. 16 Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of them said, 'My lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth to a child while she was there with me.' 18 On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were together, and there was no one else with us in the house—just the two of us. 19 During the night, this woman's son died because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night, took my son from my side while I was asleep, and laid him in her arms. She then placed her dead son in my arms. 21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. But when I looked more closely at him in the morning light, I saw that it was not the son I had borne. 22 The other woman said, 'No, the living one is my son, and the dead one is yours.' But the first woman insisted, 'No, the dead one is your son, and the living one is mine.' And so they argued before the king. 23 The king said, 'This one says, “My son is the living one, and your son is the dead one,” while the other says, “No, your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.”' 24 Then the king said, 'Bring me a sword.' So they brought a sword before the king. 25 The king said, 'Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other.' 26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, 'Please, my lord, give her the living child! Do not kill him!' But the other said, 'Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!' 27 Then the king gave his ruling: 'Give the living child to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.' 28 When all Israel heard the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of the king, for they saw that he had the wisdom of God to administer justice.
  • Job 29:16 : 16 I was a father to the needy, and I searched out the case of one I did not know.
  • Rom 11:33-34 : 33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgments and His ways beyond tracing out! 34 Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?
  • Job 38:4-39:30 : 4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. 5 Who determined its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched the measuring line across it? 6 On what were its foundations set, or who laid its cornerstone? 7 While the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? 8 Or who enclosed the sea with doors when it burst forth from the womb, 9 when I made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness, 10 when I set its boundary and placed bars and doors on it, 11 and said, 'This far you may come, but no farther; here is where your proud waves must halt.' 12 Have you ever commanded the morning or shown the dawn its place, 13 that it might take hold of the edges of the earth and shake the wicked out of it? 14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal; its features stand out like a garment. 15 The light is withheld from the wicked, and the uplifted arm is broken. 16 Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? 17 Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of deepest darkness? 18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. 19 Where is the way that light dwells, and where is the place of darkness, 20 that you may take it to its boundary and recognize the paths to its home? 21 Surely you know, since you were already born, and the number of your days is great! 22 Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of the hail, 23 which I have reserved for a time of trouble, for the day of battle and war? 24 What is the way to the place where the light is divided, or the east wind scattered over the earth? 25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain and a path for the thunderstorm, 26 to water a land where no man lives, an uninhabited desert, 27 to satisfy the desolate and waste ground and make the dry, barren land produce grass? 28 Does the rain have a father, or who gives birth to the dew drops? 29 From whose womb does the ice come forth? Who gives birth to the frost of the heavens, 30 when the waters become hard as stone and the surface of the deep is frozen? 31 Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades or loosen the cords of Orion? 32 Can you bring out the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Great Bear with its cubs? 33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up their dominion over the earth? 34 Can you raise your voice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood of water? 35 Can you send forth lightning bolts and have them go? Do they report to you, 'Here we are'? 36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts or given understanding to the mind? 37 Who can count the clouds with wisdom or tilt the water jars of the heavens, 38 when the dust becomes hard as metal and the clods of earth stick together? 39 Can you hunt prey for the lion or satisfy the hunger of young lions, 40 when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in the thicket? 41 Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about without food? 1 Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth? Can you observe the labor of the deer? 2 Can you count the months they fulfill, or do you know the time when they give birth? 3 They crouch down, give birth to their young, and deliver their offspring. 4 Their young grow strong, thrive in the open field, and leave, never returning to them. 5 Who set the wild donkey free? Who released the bonds of the onager? 6 I made the wilderness its home and the barren land its dwelling place. 7 It laughs at the commotion of the city; it does not hear the shouts of the driver. 8 It searches the mountains for its grazing, pursuing every green thing. 9 Will the wild ox consent to serve you? Will it spend the night at your manger? 10 Can you bind the wild ox in a furrow with a rope? Can it harrow the valleys behind you? 11 Will you trust it because its strength is great and leave your labor to it? 12 Can you rely on it to bring back your grain and gather it to your threshing floor? 13 The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork? 14 She leaves her eggs on the ground and lets them warm in the dust. 15 She forgets that a foot may crush them or a wild animal may trample them. 16 She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers; her labor is in vain because she has no fear. 17 For God has deprived her of wisdom and has not given her understanding. 18 When she rises on high, she mocks the horse and its rider. 19 Do you give strength to the horse or clothe its neck with a flowing mane? 20 Do you make it leap like a locust, its majestic snorting filling the air with terror? 21 It paws eagerly in the valley, rejoices in its strength, and charges into the battle. 22 It laughs at fear, unshaken and undeterred by the sword. 23 The quiver rattles against it, along with the flashing spear and javelin. 24 With fierce excitement and rage, it devours the ground, unable to stand still when it hears the trumpet sound. 25 At the sound of the trumpet, it says, 'Aha!' It scents the battle from afar, the thunder of commanders and the war cries. 26 Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south? 27 Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high? 28 It dwells and lodges on the rocky crag, on the sharp point of the cliff and its stronghold. 29 From there it searches for food; its eyes see it from afar. 30 Its young ones drink blood, and where the slain are, there it is.
  • Job 42:3 : 3 You asked, 'Who is this that obscures counsel without knowledge?' Surely, I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know.
  • Ezra 4:15 : 15 So let a search be made in the book of the records of your fathers. You will find in the records and learn that this city is a rebellious city, harmful to kings and provinces, and that rebellion has been stirred up in it since ancient times. That is why this city was destroyed.
  • Ezra 4:19 : 19 I gave the order, and a search was made. It was found that this city has a long history of revolting against kings and engaging in rebellion and sedition.
  • Job 11:7-8 : 7 Can you search out the depths of God? Can you find out the limits of the Almighty? 8 They are higher than the heavens—what can you do? They are deeper than Sheol—what can you know?