Ecclesiastes 8:17 - Christian Standard Bible Anglicised I observed all the work of God and concluded that a person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a person labours hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if a wise person claims to know it, he is unable to discover it. Tuilleadh leaganachaKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 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 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) 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 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 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 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. |
I applied my mind to examine and explore through wisdom all that is done under heaven. God has given people this miserable task to keep them occupied.
Just as you don’t know the path of the wind, or how bones develop in the womb of a pregnant woman, so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.
He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.
Consider the work of God, for who can straighten out what he has made crooked?
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary; there is no limit to his understanding.
Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgements and untraceable his ways!