Ecclesiastes 7:13 (KJV)

Passage

Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 7:11 Wisdom is good with an inheritance: and by it there is profit to them that see the sun.

Ecclesiastes 7:12 For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.

Ecclesiastes 7:13 Consider the work of God: for who can make that straight, which he hath made crooked?

Ecclesiastes 7:14 In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: God also hath set the one over against the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him.

Ecclesiastes 7:15 All things have I seen in the days of my vanity: there is a just man that perisheth in his righteousness, and there is a wicked man that prolongeth his life in his wickedness.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "consider", "make", "straight", "hath", and "crooked". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "consider" and "make", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "For wisdom is a defence and money..." into verse 14's "In the day of prosperity be joyful...", so "consider" and "make" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "consider" and "make" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.