Ecclesiastes 9:1
BSB · Public Domain (CC0)“So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.”
A short, plain-language explanation of Ecclesiastes 9:1 goes here — the kind of answer a reader (or an AI assistant) can quote in one breath. Original meaning coming soon.
“So I took all this to heart and concluded that the righteous and the wise, as well as their deeds, are in God’s hands. Man does not know what lies ahead, whether love or hate.”
Berean Standard Bible · Public Domain (CC0)“For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.”
King James Version · Public Domain“For all this I laid to my heart, even to explore all this: that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God; whether it be love or hatred, man knoweth it not; all is before them.”
American Standard Version · Public Domain“But all this I have laid unto my heart, so as to clear up the whole of this, that the righteous and the wise, and their works, <FI>are<Fi> in the hand of God, neither love nor hatred doth man know, the whole <FI>is<Fi> before them.”
Young's Literal Translation · Public DomainOther passages that echo Ecclesiastes 9:1 — 24 related verses from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Deuteronomy 33:3Surely You love the people; all the holy ones are in Your hand, and they sit down at Your feet; each receives Your words—
- 1 Samuel 2:9He guards the steps of His faithful ones, but the wicked perish in darkness; for by his own strength shall no man prevail.
- 2 Samuel 15:25Then the king said to Zadok, “Return the ark of God to the city. If I find favor in the eyes of the LORD, He will bring me back and let me see both it and His dwelling place again.
- Job 5:8However, if I were you, I would appeal to God and lay my cause before Him—
- Job 12:10The life of every living thing is in His hand, as well as the breath of all mankind.
- Job 27:12Surely all of you have seen it for yourselves. Why then do you keep up this empty talk?
- Psalms 10:14But You have regarded trouble and grief; You see to repay it by Your hand. The victim entrusts himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.
- Psalms 31:5Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O LORD, God of truth.
- Psalms 37:5Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him, and He will do it.
- Psalms 73:3For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
- Psalms 73:11The wicked say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”
- Proverbs 16:3Commit your works to the LORD and your plans will be achieved.
- Ecclesiastes 1:17So I set my mind to know wisdom and madness and folly; I learned that this, too, is a pursuit of the wind.
- Ecclesiastes 7:15In my futile life I have seen both of these: A righteous man perishing in his righteousness, and a wicked man living long in his wickedness.
- Ecclesiastes 7:25I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.
- Ecclesiastes 8:7Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?
- Ecclesiastes 8:14There is a futility that is done on the earth: There are righteous men who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked men who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.
- Ecclesiastes 8:16When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the task that one performs on the earth—though his eyes do not see sleep in the day or even in the night—
- Ecclesiastes 10:14Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?
- Ecclesiastes 12:9Not only was the Teacher wise, but he also taught the people knowledge; he pondered, searched out, and arranged many proverbs.
- Isaiah 26:12O LORD, You will establish peace for us. For all that we have accomplished, You have done for us.
- Isaiah 49:1Listen to Me, O islands; pay attention, O distant peoples: The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.
- Jeremiah 1:18Now behold, this day I have made you like a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land.
- Malachi 3:15So now we call the arrogant blessed. Not only do evildoers prosper, they even test God and escape.’”
Cross-reference data: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain) via OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).