The Lord knows people’s thoughts; he knows they are worthless!
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.
- KJV The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
- BSB The LORD knows the thoughts of man, that they are futile.
- NKJV The Lord knows the thoughts of man, That they are futile.
- NASB The Lord knows human thoughts, That they are mere breath.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The LORD knows the thoughts of mankind, that they are but a breath. God sees the emptiness of human reasoning that excludes Him.
Overview
God's knowledge reaches even the inner thoughts, which He sees to be futile when set against His wisdom. Paul quotes this verse to warn against worldly wisdom that puffs up (1 Corinthians 3:20). Human schemes apart from God amount to vapor, but those who fear Him find true wisdom in Christ (Colossians 2:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 1 Cor 3:20And again, “The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless.”
- 1 Cor 1:19For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing.”
- Rom 1:21–22Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.
- 1 Cor 1:25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
- Job 11:11–12For he knows false men. He sees iniquity also, even though he doesn’t consider it.
- 1 Cor 1:21For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn’t know God, it was God’s good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.
- Ps 49:10–13For he sees that wise men die; likewise the fool and the senseless perish, and leave their wealth to others.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 94:11 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.