Lexicon :: Strong's G4161 - poiēma

“They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me,[fn] since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods.

Jonathan spoke well of David to his father, Saul. He said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David. He hasn’t sinned against you; in fact, his actions have been a great advantage to you.

After all that has happened to us because of our evil deeds and terrible guilt ​— ​though you, our God, have punished us less than our iniquities deserve and have allowed us to survive[fn] ​— ​

My God, remember Tobiah and Sanballat for what they have done, and also the prophetess Noadiah and the other prophets who wanted to intimidate me.

Then everyone will fear

and will tell about God’s work,

for they will understand what he has done.

For you have made me rejoice, LORD,

by what you have done;

I will shout for joy

because of the works of your hands.

I remember the days of old;

I meditate on all you have done;

I reflect on the work of your hands.

I have seen all the things that are done under the sun and have found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.[fn]

I increased my achievements. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

When I considered all that I had accomplished[fn] and what I had labored to achieve, I found everything to be futile and a pursuit of the wind.[fn] There was nothing to be gained under the sun.

Therefore, I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me. For everything is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

He has made everything appropriate[fn] in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts,[fn] but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.

I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work.”

I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?[fn]

But better than either of them is the one who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil activity that is done under the sun.

Do not let your mouth bring guilt on you, and do not say in the presence of the messenger that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

Consider the work of God,

for who can straighten out

what he has made crooked?

All this I have seen, applying my mind to all the work that is done under the sun, at a time when one person has authority over another to his harm.

There is a futility that is done on the earth: there are righteous people who get what the actions of the wicked deserve, and there are wicked people who get what the actions of the righteous deserve. I say that this too is futile.

I observed all the work of God and concluded that a person is unable to discover the work that is done under the sun. Even though a person labors hard to explore it, he cannot find it; even if a wise person claims to know it, he is unable to discover it.

Go, eat your bread with pleasure, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already accepted your works.

Whatever your hands find to do, do with all your strength, because there is no work, planning, knowledge, or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.

Just as you don’t know the path of the wind,

or how bones develop in[fn] the womb of a pregnant woman,

so also you don’t know the work of God who makes everything.

For God will bring every act to judgment, including every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

You have turned things around,

as if the potter were the same as the clay.

How can what is made say about its maker,

“He didn’t make me”?

How can what is formed

say about the one who formed it,

“He doesn’t understand what he’s doing”?