Lectionary Calendar
Tuesday, May 13th, 2025
the Fourth Week after Easter
Attention!
Take your personal ministry to the Next Level by helping StudyLight build churches and supporting pastors in Uganda.
Click here to join the effort!

Read the Bible

English Standard Version

1 Corinthians 3:20

and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - God Continued...;   Heart;   Quotations and Allusions;   Vanity;   Wisdom;   Thompson Chain Reference - God's;   Knowledge;   Knowledge, Divine;   Knowledge-Ignorance;   Wisdom, Worldly;   Wisdom-Folly;   Worldly;   The Topic Concordance - Glory;   Knowledge;   Vanity;   Wisdom;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Vanity;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Apollos;   Philosophy;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Wisdom;   Holman Bible Dictionary - 1 Corinthians;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Vanity;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Fool;   Quotations;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Apollos ;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Again;   Foreknow;   Papyrus;   Text and Manuscripts of the New Testament;   Thought;   Wisdom;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Apollos;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
and again, The Lord knows that the reasonings of the wise are futile.
King James Version (1611)
And againe, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vaine.
King James Version
And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
New American Standard Bible
and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THE THOUGHTS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE useless."
New Century Version
It is also written in the Scriptures, "The Lord knows what wise people think. He knows their thoughts are just a puff of wind."
Amplified Bible
and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THE THOUGHTS of the [humanly] wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS."
New American Standard Bible (1995)
and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS."
Legacy Standard Bible
and again, "The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless."
Berean Standard Bible
And again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."
Contemporary English Version
The Scriptures also say, "The Lord knows that the plans made by wise people are useless."
Complete Jewish Bible
and again, " Adonai knows that the thoughts of the wise are worthless ."
Darby Translation
And again, [The] Lord knows the reasonings of the wise that they are vain.
Easy-to-Read Version
The Scriptures also say, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise. He knows that their thoughts are worth nothing."
Geneva Bible (1587)
And againe, The Lord knoweth that the thoughtes of the wise be vaine.
George Lamsa Translation
And again, The LORD knows that the thoughts of the wise are vain.
Good News Translation
and another scripture says, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are worthless."
Lexham English Bible
and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."
Literal Translation
And again, "The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are worthless." LXX-Psa. 93:11; MT-Psa. 94:11
American Standard Version
and again, The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain.
Bible in Basic English
And again, The Lord has knowledge of the reasonings of the wise, that they are nothing.
Hebrew Names Version
And again, "The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless."
International Standard Version
and again,Psalm 94:11;">[xr] "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are worthless."Psalm 94:11">[fn]
Etheridge Translation
And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Murdock Translation
And again: The Lord knoweth the devices of the wise, that they are vain.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And agayne The Lorde knoweth the thoughtes of the wyse, that they be vayne.
English Revised Version
and again, The Lord knoweth the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain.
World English Bible
And again, "The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless."
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Weymouth's New Testament
And again, "The Lord takes knowledge of the reasonings of the wise--how useless they are."
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and eft, The Lord knowith the thouytis of wise men, for tho ben veyn.
Update Bible Version
and again, The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise that they are vain.
Webster's Bible Translation
And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
New English Translation
And again, " The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile ."
New King James Version
and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile." Psalms 94:11">[fn]
New Living Translation
And again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise; he knows they are worthless."
New Life Bible
They also say, "The Lord knows how the wise man thinks. His thinking is worth nothing."
New Revised Standard
and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And again - The Lord taketh note of the speculations of the wise, that they are vain.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And again: The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Revised Standard Version
and again, "The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile."
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And agayne God knoweth the thoughtes of the wyse that they be vayne.
Young's Literal Translation
and again, `The Lord doth know the reasonings of the wise, that they are vain.'
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And agayne: The LORDE knoweth the thoughtes of the wyse, that they are vayne.
Mace New Testament (1729)
and again, "the Lord knows, that the thoughts of the wise are vain."
Simplified Cowboy Version
and another time when it says, "The Boss knows the thoughts of the wise and laughs at their stupidity."

Contextual Overview

18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their craftiness," 20 and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the lord: Psalms 94:11

that: Job 11:11, Job 11:12, Psalms 2:1, Romans 1:21, Colossians 2:8

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 16:23 - all the counsel Nehemiah 4:15 - God Ecclesiastes 7:16 - neither Isaiah 19:3 - and I Isaiah 44:25 - turneth Isaiah 66:18 - their thoughts Jeremiah 4:14 - How long Obadiah 1:8 - even Matthew 2:8 - go 1 Peter 1:18 - vain

Cross-References

Genesis 2:20
The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him.
Genesis 2:23
Then the man said, "This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."
Genesis 5:29
and called his name Noah, saying, "Out of the ground that the Lord has cursed, this one shall bring us relief from our work and from the painful toil of our hands."
Genesis 16:11
And the angel of the Lord said to her, "Behold, you are pregnant and shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has listened to your affliction.
Genesis 35:18
And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.
Exodus 2:10
When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, "Because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."
1 Samuel 1:20
And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, "I have asked for him from the Lord ."
Matthew 1:21
She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
Matthew 1:23
"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).
Acts 17:26
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And again,.... Not in the same place, nor in the same book, but in the Psalms, in Psalms 94:11. This form of citing Scriptures answers to ועוד and moreover, used by the Jewish doctors when the matter does not so clearly appear from the first proof, and therefore they produce another q: and so here the apostle, for the further confirmation and illustration of this point, that the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, to the testimony of Eliphaz, adds this of David,

the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain; in the Psalms it is, "the Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vanity"; which the apostle not only cites, but explains and teaches; as that by men is meant men of wisdom and knowledge, of the greatest capacities, whose thoughts, reasonings, schemes, and devices, the omniscient God not only knows, but makes known, and discovers them, sooner or later, to be vain and fruitless, yea, vanity itself; and notwithstanding all their machinations and contrivances, his counsel shall stand, his Gospel shall be maintained, his truths shall prevail, and his ordinances shall be continued, and his work go on.

q Vid. Surenhusii Biblos Katallages, p. 11, 531.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And again, - Psalms 94:11.

The Lord knoweth - God searches the heart. The particular thing which it is here said that he knows, is, that the thoughts of man are vain. They have this quality; and this is that which the psalmist here says that God sees. The affirmation is not one respecting the omniscience of God, but with respect to what God sees of the nature of the thoughts of the wise.

The thoughts of the wise - Their plans, purposes, designs.

That they are vain - That they lack real wisdom; they are foolish; they shall not be accomplished as they expect; or be seen to have that wisdom which they now suppose they possess.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 20. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise — They are always full of schemes and plans for earthly good; and God knows that all this is vain, empty, and unsatisfactory; and will stand them in no stead when he comes to take away their souls. This is a quotation from Psalms 94:11. What is here said of the vanity of human knowledge is true of every kind of wisdom that leads not immediately to God himself.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile