American Standard Version
Ecclesiastes 3:17
17I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
Ecclesiastes 3:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
- New International Version (NIV)I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work.
- New King James Version (NKJV)I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”
Context of Ecclesiastes 3:17
15That which is hath been long ago; and that which is to be hath long ago been: and God seeketh again that which is passed away. 16And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. 18I said in my heart, It isbecause of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are but as beasts. 19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity.
Read all of Ecclesiastes 3Ecclesiastes 3:17 word by word
אָמַ֤רְתִּֽי אֲנִי֙ בְּלִבִּ֔י אֶת־הַצַּדִּיק֙ וְאֶת־הָ֣רָשָׁ֔ע יִשְׁפֹּ֖ט הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים כִּי־עֵ֣ת לְכָל־חֵ֔פֶץ וְעַ֥ל כָּל־הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה שָֽׁם׃Read the interlinear
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 3:17
- Ecclesiastes 1:16I communed with mine own heart, saying, Lo, I have gotten me great wisdom above all that were before me in Jerusalem; yea, my heart hath had great experience of wisdom and knowledge.
- Ecclesiastes 2:1I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth; therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also was vanity.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
- Genesis 18:25That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
- Psalms 98:9Before Jehovah; for he cometh to judge the earth: He will judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with equity.
- Matthew 16:27For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then shall he render unto every man according to his deeds.
- Matthew 25:31But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory:
- John 5:22For neither doth the Father judge any man, but he hath given all judgment unto the Son;
- Acts 17:31inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
- Romans 2:5but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
- 1 Corinthians 4:5Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:6if so be that it is a righteous thing with God to recompense affliction to them that afflict you,
- Revelation 20:11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
- Jeremiah 29:10For thus saith Jehovah, After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17For there is a time there for every purpose - Man has his time here below, and God shall have his time above. At his throne the judged shall be rejudged, and iniquity for ever close her mouth.Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16-22Verses 16-22 That great anomaly in the moral government of this world, the seemingly unequal distribution of rewards and punishments, will be rectified by God, who has future times and events under His control Ecclesiastes 3:16-17. As for people, they are placed by God, who is their teacher, in a humble condition, even on a level with inferior animals, by death, that great instance of their subjection to vanity Ecclesiastes 3:18-19, which reduces to its…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 16-22Verses 16-22 Without the fear of the Lord, man is but vanity; set that aside, and judges will not use their power well. And there is another Judge that stands before the door. With God there is a time for the redressing of grievances, though as yet we see it not. Solomon seems to express his wish that men might perceive, that by choosing this world as their portion, they brought themselves to a level with the beasts, without being free, as they are, from…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 17God will judge: Human injustices (Ecclesiastes 3:16) are temporary and God will correct them. The narrator repeats this to conclude the book (Ecclesiastes 12:14).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1717. Solution of it. There is a coming judgment in which God will vindicate His righteous ways. The sinner's "time" of his unrighteous "work" is short. God also has His "time" and "work" of judgment; and, meanwhile, is overruling, for good at last, what seems now dark. Man cannot now "find out" the plan of God's ways (Ec 3:11; Psa 97:2). If judgment instantly followed every sin, there would be no scope for free will, faith, and perseverance of saints in…Read the comment
Topics related to Ecclesiastes 3:17
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 3
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
American Standard Version — 1901 — Public Domain
Commentaries