Ecclesiastes 8:7

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

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

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Eccl 6:12 : 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 9:12 : 12 Surely, no one knows his appointed time! Like fish that are caught in a deadly net, and like birds that are caught in a snare– just like them, all people are ensnared at an unfortunate time that falls upon them suddenly.
  • Eccl 10:14 : 14 yet a fool keeps on babbling. No one knows what will happen; who can tell him what will happen in the future?
  • Prov 24:22 : 22 for suddenly their destruction will overtake them, and who knows the ruinous judgment both the LORD and the king can bring?
  • Prov 29:1 : 1 The one who stiffens his neck after numerous rebukes will suddenly be destroyed without remedy.
  • Eccl 3:22 : 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?
  • Matt 24:44 : 44 Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
  • Matt 24:50 : 50 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee,
  • Matt 25:6-9 : 6 But at midnight there was a shout,‘Look, the bridegroom is here! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise,‘Give us some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 9 ‘No,’ they replied.‘There won’t be enough for you and for us. Go instead to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then the door was shut. 11 Later, the other virgins came too, saying,‘Lord, lord! Let us in!’ 12 But he replied,‘I tell you the truth, I do not know you!’ 13 Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour.
  • 1 Thess 5:1-3 : 1 The Day of the Lord Now on the topic of times and seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need for anything to be written to you. 2 For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come in the same way as a thief in the night. 3 Now when they are saying,“There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.

Similar Verses (AI)

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

  • Eccl 6:10-12
    3 verses
    81%

    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 8:6
    79%

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

  • Eccl 8:8
    79%

    8Just 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.

  • Eccl 8:16-17
    2 verses
    77%

    16Limitations of Human Wisdom When I tried to gain wisdom and to observe the activity on earth– even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night–

    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.

  • Job 8:9
    76%

    9For we were born yesterday and do not have knowledge, since our days on earth are but a shadow.

  • Eccl 9:11-12
    2 verses
    76%

    11Wisdom Cannot Protect against Seemingly Chance Events Again, I observed this on the earth: the race is not always won by the swiftest, the battle is not always won by the strongest; prosperity does not always belong to those who are the wisest, wealth does not always belong to those who are the most discerning, nor does success always come to those with the most knowledge– for time and chance may overcome them all.

    12Surely, no one knows his appointed time! Like fish that are caught in a deadly net, and like birds that are caught in a snare– just like them, all people are ensnared at an unfortunate time that falls upon them suddenly.

  • Eccl 10:14
    76%

    14yet a fool keeps on babbling. No one knows what will happen; who can tell him what will happen in the future?

  • Eccl 11:5
    75%

    5Just as you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones form in the womb of a pregnant woman, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

  • Job 28:13
    74%

    13Mankind does not know its place; it cannot be found in the land of the living.

  • Eccl 2:19
    74%

    19Who 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!

  • Jas 4:14
    73%

    14You do not know about tomorrow. What is your life like? For you are a puff of smoke that appears for a short time and then vanishes.

  • Eccl 3:21-22
    2 verses
    73%

    21Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

    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?

  • Prov 27:1
    73%

    1Do not boast about tomorrow; for you do not know what a day may bring forth.

  • Eccl 9:1
    73%

    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.

  • Job 42:3
    73%

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

  • Job 9:11-12
    2 verses
    73%

    11If he passes by me, I cannot see him, if he goes by, I cannot perceive him.

    12If he snatches away, who can turn him back? Who dares to say to him,‘What are you doing?’

  • Ps 39:6
    73%

    6Surely people go through life as mere ghosts. Surely they accumulate worthless wealth without knowing who will eventually haul it away.”

  • Eccl 2:16
    73%

    16For the wise man, like the fool, will not be remembered for very long, because in the days to come, both will already have been forgotten. Alas, the wise man dies– just like the fool!

  • Eccl 6:8
    72%

    8So what advantage does a wise man have over a fool? And what advantage does a pauper gain by knowing how to survive?

  • Eccl 3:14
    72%

    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.

  • Job 11:10-11
    2 verses
    72%

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

    11For he knows deceitful men; when he sees evil, will he not consider it?

  • Prov 20:24
    72%

    24The steps of a person are ordained by the LORD– so how can anyone understand his own way?

  • Job 15:9
    72%

    9What do you know that we don’t know? What do you understand that we don’t understand?

  • Job 36:26
    72%

    26The Work and Wisdom of God“Yes, God is great– beyond our knowledge! The number of his years is unsearchable.

  • Eccl 9:5
    72%

    5For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything; they have no further reward– and even the memory of them disappears.

  • Eccl 7:24
    72%

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

  • Eccl 11:8
    72%

    8So, 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.

  • Job 7:1
    72%

    1The Brevity of Life“Does not humanity have hard service on earth? Are not their days also like the days of a hired man?

  • Eccl 6:6
    72%

    6if he should live a thousand years twice, yet does not enjoy his prosperity. For both of them die!

  • Eccl 7:13
    72%

    13Wisdom Acknowledges God’s Orchestration of Life Consider the work of God: For who can make straight what he has bent?

  • Job 24:1
    71%

    1The Apparent Indifference of God“Why are times not appointed by the Almighty? Why do those who know him not see his days?

  • Eccl 3:11-12
    2 verses
    71%

    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 11:2
    71%

    2Divide your merchandise among seven or even eight investments, for you do not know what calamity may happen on earth.

  • Job 7:10
    71%

    10He returns no more to his house, nor does his place of residence know him any more.

  • Job 14:5
    71%

    5Since man’s days are determined, the number of his months is under your control; you have set his limit and he cannot pass it.

  • Eccl 7:10
    71%

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

  • Job 20:4
    71%

    4“Surely you know that it has been from old, ever since humankind was placed on the earth,

  • Ps 92:6
    71%

    6The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this; the fool does not understand this.

  • Ps 89:48
    71%

    48No man can live on without experiencing death, or deliver his life from the power of Sheol.(Selah)

  • Job 24:22
    71%

    22But God drags off the mighty by his power; when God rises up against him, he has no faith in his life.

  • Eccl 4:16
    70%

    16There 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 8:1
    70%

    1Human Government Demonstrates Limitations of Wisdom Who is a wise person? Who knows the solution to a problem? A person’s wisdom brightens his appearance, and softens his harsh countenance.