Ecclesiastes 7:23

Linguistic Bible Translation from Source Texts

All this I tested by wisdom and said, 'I will be wise,' but it was beyond me.

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Other Translations

Referenced Verses

  • Rom 1:22 : 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools.
  • 1 Cor 1:20 : 20 Where is the wise person? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made the wisdom of the world foolish?
  • Gen 3:5 : 5 'For God knows that on the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'
  • 1 Kgs 3:11-12 : 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.
  • 1 Kgs 11:1-8 : 1 King Solomon loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh's daughter—Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women. 2 These were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, 'You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, for they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.' Nevertheless, Solomon clung to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away. 4 As Solomon grew older, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God as the heart of David his father had been. 5 Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not fully follow the LORD as David his father had done. 7 At that time Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the hill east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • Eccl 7:24-25
    2 verses
    85%

    24What exists is far off and exceedingly deep—who can discover it?

    25I turned my mind to understand, to investigate, and to search out wisdom and the meaning of things, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.

  • Eccl 1:13-18
    6 verses
    77%

    13I set my heart to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under the heavens. What a burdensome task God has given to the human race to occupy themselves with!

    14I have seen all the deeds that are done under the sun; they are all meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

    15What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.

    16I said to myself, 'Look, I have grown and increased in wisdom more than anyone who has ruled Jerusalem before me. I have experienced much wisdom and knowledge.'

    17Then I set my heart to understand wisdom, as well as madness and folly, but I learned that this too is a chasing after the wind.

    18For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.

  • Ps 73:16
    75%

    16When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply.

  • Eccl 2:11-15
    5 verses
    75%

    11Yet when I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, behold, everything was meaningless—a chasing after the wind. There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

    12So I turned my attention to consider wisdom, madness, and folly. For what can anyone do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done.

    13I saw that wisdom is better than folly, just as light is better than darkness.

    14The wise have eyes in their heads, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also realized that the same fate overtakes them both.

    15Then I said in my heart, 'What happens to the fool will also happen to me. So why have I been so very wise?' And I concluded in my heart, 'This too is meaningless.'

  • Eccl 9:13
    74%

    13I also saw this example of wisdom under the sun, and it seemed great to me.

  • Job 42:3
    73%

    3You 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.

  • Eccl 8:17
    73%

    17then I saw all the work of God, that no one can understand the work that is done under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can comprehend it. Even if the wise claim to know, they cannot truly understand it.

  • Eccl 7:22
    72%

    22For you know in your heart that many times you yourself have cursed others.

  • Prov 8:12
    72%

    12I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I possess knowledge and discretion.

  • Eccl 2:9
    72%

    9I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem, and my wisdom stayed with me.

  • Eccl 7:27
    72%

    27'See,' says the Teacher, 'this is what I have discovered, adding one thing to another to understand the scheme of things.'

  • Eccl 2:1-3
    3 verses
    71%

    1I said to myself, 'Come now, I will test you with pleasure to see what is good.' But behold, this too was meaningless.

    2I said of laughter, 'It is madness,' and of joy, 'What does it accomplish?'

    3I explored with my heart how to cheer my body with wine, while my mind guided me with wisdom, and how to embrace folly until I could see what is good for people to do under the heavens during the few days of their lives.

  • Prov 30:3
    71%

    3I have not learned wisdom, nor do I have knowledge of the Holy One.

  • Job 12:3
    71%

    3"But I too have a mind as well as you; I am not inferior to you. Who does not know things such as these?"

  • Job 6:13
    71%

    13Indeed, there is no help in me, and ability has been driven from me.

  • Job 28:12
    71%

    12But where can wisdom be found, and where is the place of understanding?

  • Job 17:10-11
    2 verses
    71%

    10But as for all of you, return and come now, for I do not find a wise man among you.

    11My days have passed, my plans are broken off, and the desires of my heart are gone.

  • Eccl 2:19-20
    2 verses
    71%

    19And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will rule over all the fruit of my labor that I have worked for under the sun. This too is meaningless.

    20So I turned my heart to despair over all the hard work with which I had labored under the sun.

  • Eccl 7:15-16
    2 verses
    71%

    15In my fleeting life, I have seen it all: The righteous perishing in their righteousness, and the wicked living long in their wickedness.

    16Do not be overly righteous, neither make yourself too wise—why destroy yourself?

  • Ps 139:6
    71%

    6Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

  • Prov 7:7
    70%

    7And I saw among the naive ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man lacking understanding.

  • Job 28:20
    70%

    20But where does wisdom come from, and where is the place of understanding?

  • Prov 17:24
    70%

    24Wisdom is before the face of the discerning, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

  • Job 36:3
    70%

    3I will bring my knowledge from far away and ascribe righteousness to my Maker.

  • Job 23:8
    70%

    8But if I go to the east, he is not there; if I go to the west, I cannot perceive him.

  • Prov 18:1
    70%

    1One who isolates himself seeks his own desires; he quarrels against all sound wisdom.

  • Prov 8:14
    69%

    14Counsel and wisdom belong to me; I have understanding and strength.

  • Eccl 9:1
    69%

    1So I reflected on all this and set my heart to examine it: that the righteous, the wise, and their deeds are in the hand of God. People do not know whether love or hatred awaits them; everything lies before them.

  • Eccl 2:17
    69%

    17So I hated life, because the work done under the sun was grievous to me. For everything is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.

  • Eccl 7:29
    69%

    29This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.

  • Ps 73:3
    69%

    3For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

  • Eccl 10:3
    69%

    3Even while walking along the road, the fool lacks sense and shows everyone how foolish he is.

  • Eccl 9:16
    69%

    16So I said, 'Wisdom is better than strength.' But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are not heeded.

  • Job 13:1
    69%

    1Indeed, my eyes have seen all this, my ears have heard and understood it.

  • Jer 23:23
    69%

    23Am I only a God nearby, declares the LORD, and not a God far away?