Discovery BoxEcclesiastes 7:13-14 
ContextWisdom Acknowledges God’s Orchestration of Life
7:13 Consider the work of God:
For who can make straight what he has bent?
7:14 In times of prosperity 1 be joyful,
but in times of adversity 2 consider this:
God has made one as well as the other, 3
so that no one can discover what the future holds. 4
1 tn Heb “the day of good.”
2 tn Heb “the day of evil.”
3 tn Less probable renderings of this line are “God hath made the one side by side with the other” (ASV) and “God has set the one alongside the other” (NEB).
4 tn Heb “anything after him.” This line is misinterpreted by several versions: “that man may not find against him any just complaint” (Douay); “consequently, man may find no fault with Him” (NJPS); “so that man cannot find fault with him in anything” (NAB).
