Ecclesiastes 1:15

Crooked. This is from a form of the root meaning “to bend,” “to twist.” It does not refer so much to something that is inherently crooked or out of line, but to that which is caused to become so. Note that the preceding words, “that which is,” are supplied. It is the “works” of man (v. 14) that have been made “crooked.”

Straight. From a Hebrew word whose root means “to arrange,” “to put right,” “to set in order.” The emphasis is on man’s inability, in his own strength, to cope with the situations that continually confront him.

Cannot be numbered. The lack is so great that man cannot even give a valid estimate of it, to say nothing about beginning to make up the deficiency. The word translated “numbered” may also be rendered “assigned,” “appointed.”