Ecclesiastes 7:13

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

Wisdom Acknowledges God’s Orchestration of Life Consider the work of God: For who can make straight what he has bent?

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Eccl 1:15 : 15 What is bent cannot be straightened, and what is missing cannot be supplied.
  • Job 12:14 : 14 If he tears down, it cannot be rebuilt; if he imprisons a person, there is no escape.
  • Isa 14:27 : 27 Indeed, the LORD of Heaven’s Armies has a plan, and who can possibly frustrate it? His hand is ready to strike, and who can possibly stop it?
  • Isa 46:10-11 : 10 who 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,’ 11 who summons an eagle from the east, from a distant land, one who carries out my plan. Yes, I have decreed, yes, I will bring it to pass; I have formulated a plan, yes, I will carry it out.
  • Rom 9:19 : 19 You will say to me then,“Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?”
  • Eph 1:11 : 11 In Christ we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, since we were predestined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will
  • Dan 4:35 : 35 All 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?’
  • Rom 9:15 : 15 For he says to Moses:“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
  • Isa 43:13 : 13 From this day forward I am he; no one can deliver from my power; I will act, and who can prevent it?”
  • Job 34:29 : 29 But 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,
  • Job 37:14 : 14 “Pay attention to this, Job! Stand still and consider the wonders God works.
  • Ps 8:3 : 3 When I look up at the heavens, which your fingers made, and see the moon and the stars, which you set in place,
  • Ps 107:43 : 43 Whoever is wise, let him take note of these things! Let them consider the LORD’s acts of loyal love!
  • Eccl 3:11 : 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.
  • Isa 5:12 : 12 They 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.
  • Job 9:12 : 12 If he snatches away, who can turn him back? Who dares to say to him,‘What are you doing?’
  • Job 11:10 : 10 If he comes by and confines you and convenes a court, then who can prevent him?

Similar Verses (AI)

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

  • Eccl 7:14-16
    3 verses
    83%

    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.

    15Exceptions to the Law of Retribution During 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.

    16So do not be excessively righteous or excessively wise; otherwise you might be disappointed.

  • Eccl 1:13-15
    3 verses
    81%

    13I decided to carefully and thoroughly examine all that has been accomplished on earth. I concluded: God has given people a burdensome task that keeps them occupied.

    14I reflected on everything that is accomplished by man on earth, and I concluded: Everything he has accomplished is futile– like chasing the wind!

    15What is bent cannot be straightened, and what is missing cannot be supplied.

  • Eccl 8:17
    75%

    17then 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.

  • Eccl 3:9-12
    4 verses
    75%

    9Man is Ignorant of God’s Timing What benefit can a worker gain from his toil?

    10I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied.

    11God 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.

    12Enjoy Life in the Present I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live,

  • Eccl 9:1
    74%

    1Everyone 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.

  • Eccl 8:14
    73%

    14Here is another enigma that occurs on earth: Sometimes there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve, and sometimes there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve. I said,“This also is an enigma.”

  • Eccl 7:24-25
    2 verses
    73%

    24Whatever has happened is beyond human understanding; it is far deeper than anyone can fathom.

    25True Righteousness and Wisdom Are Virtually Nonexistent I tried to understand, examine, and comprehend the role of wisdom in the scheme of things, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the insanity of folly.

  • Eccl 3:14-15
    2 verses
    73%

    14God’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.

    15Whatever 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.

  • Job 37:14
    73%

    14“Pay attention to this, Job! Stand still and consider the wonders God works.

  • Job 36:23-24
    2 verses
    73%

    23Who has prescribed his ways for him? Or said to him,‘You have done what is wicked’?

    24Remember to extol his work, which people have praised in song.

  • Eccl 2:25-26
    2 verses
    73%

    25For no one can eat and drink or experience joy apart from him.

    26For to the one who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge, and joy, but to the sinner, he gives the task of amassing wealth– only to give it to the one who pleases God. This task of the wicked is futile– like chasing the wind!

  • Eccl 3:22
    72%

    22So 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?

  • Eccl 7:29
    72%

    29This alone have I discovered: God made humankind upright, but they have sought many evil schemes.

  • Job 23:13
    72%

    13But he is unchangeable, and who can change him? Whatever he has desired, he does.

  • Job 11:7
    72%

    7“Can you discover the essence of God? Can you find out the perfection of the Almighty?

  • Eccl 8:6-7
    2 verses
    72%

    6For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, for the oppression of the king is severe upon his victim.

    7Surely no one knows the future, and no one can tell another person what will happen.

  • Eccl 6:10-12
    3 verses
    71%

    10The 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.

    11The more one argues with words, the less he accomplishes. How does that benefit him?

    12For 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 7:10-11
    2 verses
    71%

    10Do not say,“Why were the old days better than these days?” for it is not wise to ask that.

    11Wisdom Can Lengthen One’s Life Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing; it benefits those who see the light of day.

  • Job 11:10
    71%

    10If he comes by and confines you and convenes a court, then who can prevent him?

  • Job 7:17
    71%

    17Insignificance of Humans“What is mankind that you make so much of them, and that you pay attention to them?

  • Prov 21:8
    71%

    8The way of the guilty person is devious, but as for the pure, his way is upright.

  • Job 9:4
    71%

    4He is wise in heart and mighty in strength– who has resisted him and remained safe?

  • Prov 19:3
    71%

    3A person’s folly subverts his way, and his heart rages against the LORD.

  • Prov 16:4
    70%

    4The LORD has worked everything for his own ends– even the wicked for the day of disaster.

  • Eccl 2:11-12
    2 verses
    70%

    11Yet 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.”

    12Wisdom 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?

  • Isa 29:16
    70%

    16Your thinking is perverse! Should the potter be regarded as clay? Should the thing made say about its maker,“He didn’t make me”? Or should the pottery say about the potter,“He doesn’t understand”?

  • Job 33:13
    70%

    13Why do you contend against him, that he does not answer all a person’s words?

  • Eccl 2:21
    70%

    21For 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!

  • Job 42:3
    70%

    3you asked,‘Who is this who darkens counsel without knowledge?’ But I have declared without understanding things too wonderful for me to know.

  • Prov 10:9
    70%

    9The one who conducts himself in integrity will live securely, but the one who behaves perversely will be found out.

  • Eccl 7:20
    70%

    20For there is not one truly righteous person on the earth who continually does good and never sins.

  • Job 4:17
    70%

    17“Is a mortal man righteous before God? Or a man pure before his Creator?

  • Job 10:3
    70%

    3Is it good for you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands, while you smile on the schemes of the wicked?

  • Eccl 3:17
    70%

    17I thought to myself,“God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment for every deed.