Ecclesiastes 6:10
The Futile Way Life Works Whatever has happened was foreordained, and what happens to a person was also foreknown. It is useless for him to argue with God about his fate because God is more powerful than he is.
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Referenced Verses
- Job 9:32 : 32 For he is not a human being like I am, that I might answer him, that we might come together in judgment.
- Eccl 3:15 : 15 Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been; for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.
- Isa 45:9-9 : 9 The Lord Gives a Warning One who argues with his Creator is in grave danger, one who is like a mere shard among the other shards on the ground! The clay should not say to the potter,“What in the world are you doing? Your work lacks skill!” 10 Danger awaits one who says to his father,“What in the world are you fathering?” and to his mother,“What in the world are you bringing forth?”
- Job 40:2 : 2 “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”
- Ps 39:6 : 6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. Surely they accumulate worthless wealth without knowing who will eventually haul it away.”
- Ps 82:6-7 : 6 I thought,‘You are gods; all of you are sons of the Most High.’ 7 Yet you will die like mortals; you will fall like all the other rulers.”
- Ps 103:15 : 15 A person’s life is like grass. Like a flower in the field it flourishes,
- Eccl 1:9-9 : 9 What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth. 10 Is there anything about which someone can say,“Look at this! It is new!”? It was already done long ago, before our time. 11 No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations.
- Job 14:1-4 : 1 The Brevity of Life“Man, born of woman, lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble. 2 He grows up like a flower and then withers away; he flees like a shadow, and does not remain. 3 Do you fix your eye on such a one? And do you bring me before you for judgment? 4 Who can make a clean thing come from an unclean? No one!
- Job 33:13 : 13 Why do you contend against him, that he does not answer all a person’s words?
- Gen 3:9 : 9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him,“Where are you?”
- Gen 3:17-19 : 17 But to Adam he said,“Because you obeyed your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,‘You must not eat from it,’ the ground is cursed because of you; in painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, but you will eat the grain of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat food until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you will return.”
- Job 9:3-4 : 3 If someone wishes to contend with him, he cannot answer him one time in a thousand. 4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength– who has resisted him and remained safe?
- Jer 49:19 : 19 “A lion coming up from the thick undergrowth along the Jordan scatters the sheep in the pastureland around it. So too I will chase the Edomites off their land. Then I will appoint over it whomever I choose. For there is no one like me, and there is no one who can call me to account. There is no ruler who can stand up against me.
- Rom 9:19-20 : 19 You will say to me then,“Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” 20 But who indeed are you– a mere human being– to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder,“Why have you made me like this?”
Similar Verses (AI)
These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.
- Eccl 6:11-122 verses82%
11 The more one argues with words, the less he accomplishes. How does that benefit him?
12 For no one knows what is best for a person during his life– during the few days of his fleeting life– for they pass away like a shadow. Nor can anyone tell him what the future will hold for him on earth.
- Eccl 3:14-152 verses79%
14 God’s Sovereignty I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.
15 Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been; for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.
- Eccl 1:8-114 verses77%
8 All this monotony is tiresome; no one can bear to describe it: The eye is never satisfied with seeing, nor is the ear ever content with hearing.
9 What exists now is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing truly new on earth.
10 Is there anything about which someone can say,“Look at this! It is new!”? It was already done long ago, before our time.
11 No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations.
- Eccl 1:14-152 verses75%
14 I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile– like chasing the wind!
15 What is bent cannot be straightened, and what is missing cannot be supplied.
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16 There is no end to all the people nor to the past generations, yet future generations will not rejoice in him. This also is profitless and like chasing the wind.
- Eccl 6:4-96 verses74%
4 Though the stillborn child came into the world for no reason and departed into darkness, though its name is shrouded in darkness,
5 though it never saw the light of day nor knew anything, yet it has more rest than that man–
6 if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die!
7 All of man’s labor is for nothing more than to fill his stomach– yet his appetite is never satisfied!
8 So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?
9 It is better to be content with what the eyes can see than for one’s heart always to crave more. This continual longing is futile– like chasing the wind.
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3 But better than both is the one who has not been born and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth.
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17 then I discerned all that God has done: No one really comprehends what happens on earth. Despite all human efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp it. Even if a wise person claimed that he understood, he would not really comprehend it.
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4 “Surely you know that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed on the earth,
- Eccl 8:6-94 verses74%
6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, for the oppression of the king is severe upon his victim.
7 Surely no one knows the future, and no one can tell another person what will happen.
8 Just as no one has power over the wind to restrain it, so no one has power over the day of his death. Just as no one can be discharged during the battle, so wickedness cannot rescue the wicked.
9 While applying my mind to everything that happens in this world, I have seen all this: Sometimes one person dominates other people to their harm.
- Eccl 3:21-222 verses74%
21 Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?
22 So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work, because that is their reward; for who can show them what the future holds?
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19 Who knows if he will be a wise man or a fool? Yet he will be master over all the fruit of my labor for which I worked so wisely on earth! This also is futile!
- Eccl 2:11-122 verses73%
11 Yet when I reflected on everything I had accomplished and on all the effort that I had expended to accomplish it, I concluded:“All these achievements and possessions are ultimately profitless– like chasing the wind! There is nothing gained from them on earth.”
12 Wisdom is Better than Folly Next, I decided to consider wisdom, as well as foolish behavior and ideas. For what more can the king’s successor do than what the king has already done?
- Eccl 6:1-22 verses73%
1 Not Everyone Enjoys Life Here is another misfortune that I have seen on earth, and it weighs heavily on people:
2 God gives a man riches, property, and wealth so that he lacks nothing that his heart desires, yet God does not enable him to enjoy the fruit of his labor– instead, someone else enjoys it! This is fruitless and a grave misfortune.
- Eccl 3:10-112 verses73%
10 I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied.
11 God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained, from the beginning to the end of their lives.
- Eccl 2:21-222 verses73%
21 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge, and skill; however, he must hand over the fruit of his labor as an inheritance to someone else who did not work for it. This also is futile, and an awful injustice!
22 Painful Days and Restless Nights What does a man acquire from all his labor and from the anxiety that accompanies his toil on earth?
- Job 9:3-42 verses73%
3 If someone wishes to contend with him, he cannot answer him one time in a thousand.
4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength– who has resisted him and remained safe?
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19 For the fate of humans and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals, for both are fleeting.
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16 This is another misfortune: Just as he came, so will he go. What did he gain from toiling for the wind?
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6 Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. Surely they accumulate worthless wealth without knowing who will eventually haul it away.”
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13 Why do you contend against him, that he does not answer all a person’s words?
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17 Insignificance of Humans“What is mankind that you make so much of them, and that you pay attention to them?
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8 So, if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all, but let him remember that the days of darkness will be many– all that is about to come is obscure.
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10 If he comes by and confines you and convenes a court, then who can prevent him?
- Eccl 2:24-252 verses71%
24 Enjoy Work and its Benefits There is nothing better for people than to eat and drink, and to find enjoyment in their work. I also perceived that this ability to find enjoyment comes from God.
25 For no one can eat and drink or experience joy apart from him.
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3 Futility Illustrated from Nature What benefit do people get from all the effort which they expend on earth?
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13 So do not say,‘We have found wisdom! God will refute him, not man!’
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1 Everyone Will Die So I reflected on all this, attempting to clear it all up. I concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God; whether a person will be loved or hated– no one knows what lies ahead.
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13 Wisdom Acknowledges God’s Orchestration of Life Consider the work of God: For who can make straight what he has bent?