Psalms 135:6

135:6 He does whatever he pleases

in heaven and on earth,

in the seas and all the ocean depths.

Isaiah 46:10

46:10 who announces the end from the beginning

and reveals beforehand ¹  what has not yet occurred,

who says, ‘My plan will be realized,

I will accomplish what I desire,’

Daniel 4:35

4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. ² 

He does as he wishes with the army of heaven

and with those who inhabit the earth.

No one slaps ³  his hand

and says to him, ‘What have you done?’

Romans 9:19

9:19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?”

Ephesians 1:11

1:11 In Christ ⁴  we too have been claimed as God’s own possession, ⁵  since we were predestined according to the one purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to the counsel of his will

¹ tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”

² tc The present translation reads כְּלָא (kÿla’), with many medieval Hebrew MSS, rather than כְּלָה (kÿlah) of BHS.

³ tn Aram “strikes against.”

⁴ tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.

⁵ tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.