Key Verse Spotlight
Ecclesiastes 8:17 — Meaning and Application
King James Version
“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 further; though a wise {man} think to know {it}, yet shall he not be able to find {it}.”
Ecclesiastes 8:17
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry: for that shall abide with him of his labour the days of his life, which God giveth him under the sun.
When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also {there is that} neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:)
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 further; though a wise {man} think to know {it}, yet shall he not be able to find {it}.
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