Ecclesiastes 8:17 - New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition 2021

¹⁷ then I saw all the work of God, that no one can find out what is happening under the sun. However much they may toil in seeking, they will not find it out; even though those who are wise claim to know, they cannot find it out.

More versions

King James Version (Oxford) 1769

¹⁷ then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

Amplified Bible - Classic Edition

¹⁷ Then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun–because however much a man may toil in seeking, yet he will not find it out; yes, more than that, though a wise man thinks and claims he knows, yet will he not be able to find it out. [Deut. 29:29; Rom. 11:33.]

American Standard Version (1901)

¹⁷ then I beheld all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because however much a man labor to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea moreover, though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.

Common English Bible

¹⁷ I observed all the work of God—that no one can grasp what happens under the sun. Those who strive to know can’t grasp it. Even the wise who are set on knowing are unable to grasp it.

Catholic Public Domain Version

¹⁷ And I understood that man is able to find no explanation for all those works of God which are done under the sun. And so, the more that he labors to seek, so much the less does he find. Yes, even if a wise man were to claim that he knows, he would not be able to discover it.

Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version

¹⁷ And I understood that man can find no reason of all those works of God that are done under the sun: and the more he shall labour to seek, so much the less shall he find: yea, though the wise man shall say, that he knoweth it, he shall not be able to find it.

Ecclesiastes 8:17 Cross References

Job 5:9

He does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.

Psalm 104:24

O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Psalm 40:5

You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be counted.

Psalm 73:16

But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,

Ecclesiastes 1:13

I applied my mind to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven; it is an unhappy business that God has given to humans to be busy with.

Ecclesiastes 11:5

Just as you do not know how the breath comes to the bones in the mother’s womb, so you do not know the work of God, who makes everything.

Ecclesiastes 3:11

He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Ecclesiastes 7:13

Consider the work of God; who can make straight what he has made crooked?

Isaiah 40:28

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.

Romans 11:33

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!