God works in mysterious ways

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Possibly originating from a poem by William Cowper (floruit 1731–1800), whose first stanza reads: God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform; / He plants His footsteps in the sea / And rides upon the storm. Despite the late attestation, the general sentiment of the phrase does hold apparent wide-ranging and prehistoric theological currency.

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: لِلّٰهِ فِي خَلْقِهِ شُؤُونٌ (lillāhi fī ḵalqihi šuʔūnun) — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Azerbaijani: sən saydığını say, gör fələk nə sayır — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Azerbaijani: Allahın işini bilmək olmaz — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Chinese Mandarin: 神用奧秘行動前來 /神用奥秘行动前来 (shényòng àomì xíngdòng qiánlái) — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Danish: Herrens veje er uransagelige — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Dutch: Gods wegen zijn ondoorgrondelijk — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Finnish: tutkimattomat ovat Herran tiet — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• French: les voies de Dieu sont impénétrables — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• French: les voies du Seigneur sont impénétrables — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• German: die Wege des Herrn sind unergründlich — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• German: Gottes Wege sind unergründlich — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Greek: άγνωστοι αι βουλαί του Κυρίου (ágnostoi ai voulaí tou Kyríou) — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Hindi: ईश्वर रहस्यमयी तरीकों से काम करता है (īśvar rahasyamyī tarīkõ se kām kartā hai) — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Hindi: ईश्वर की माया कहीं धूप कहीं छाया (īśvar kī māyā kahī̃ dhūp kahī̃ chāyā) — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Hungarian: Isten útjai kifürkészhetetlenek — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Icelandic: vegir drottinns eru órannskakanlegir — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Indonesian: Tuhan bekerja dengan cara misterius — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Italian: le vie del Signore sono imperscrutabili — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Japanese: 神は独特で奇妙なやり方をする (kami wa dokutoku de kimyō na yarikata o suru) — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Korean: 새옹지마 (sae'ongjima) — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Norwegian Bokmål: Herrens veier er uransakelige — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Polish: niezbadane są wyroki Boskie — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Portuguese: Deus escreve certo por linhas tortas — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Russian: пути́ госпо́дни неисповеди́мы (putí gospódni neispovedímy) — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Serbo-Croatian: čudni su putevi Božji — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Spanish: los caminos del Señor son inescrutables — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Swedish: Guds vägar äro outgrundliga — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Swedish: outgrundliga äro Herrens vägar — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later
• Turkish: Mevla'nın işine akıl sır ermez — an unfavorable situation may be beneficial later