Bible Strands
Ecclesiastes 7:13
Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The author of Ecclesiastes addresses readers within a wisdom discourse, placing this statement between reflections on wisdom’s protective value and the reality of alternating prosperity and adversity.
The words — The Hebrew רְאֵה (re'eh) issues a direct command to "consider," and לְתַקֵּן (le-taqen) means "to straighten," structuring the verse as a declaration of God’s action followed by a rhetorical question about human inability.
The thread — The motif of unalterable divine action runs through Ecclesiastes 1:15 and Job 12:14, while Psalms 107:43 uses the same verb of observation to call the wise to pay attention to God’s steadfast love.
Why it lands — The text commands readers to observe God’s sovereign work and acknowledges that humans cannot reverse His decisions, requiring acceptance of circumstances without demanding explanatory control.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 1:15 What is crooked cannot be straightened, and what is lacking cannot be counted.
- Job 12:14 What He tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man He imprisons cannot be released.
- Psalms 107:43 Let him who is wise pay heed to these things and consider the loving devotion of the LORD.
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.
- Isaiah 5:12 At their feasts are the lyre and harp, tambourines and flutes and wine. They disregard the actions of the LORD and fail to see the work of His hands.
- Isaiah 14:27 The LORD of Hosts has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is outstretched, so who can turn it back?
- Romans 9:15 For He says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”
- Ephesians 1:11 In Him we were also chosen as God’s own, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything by the counsel of His will,
- Job 37:14 Listen to this, O Job; stand still and consider the wonders of God.
- Isaiah 43:13 Even from eternity I am He, and none can deliver out of My hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”