EasyEnglish Bible 2018
Ecclesiastes 3:17
17I said to myself, ‘One day, God will judge everyone, righteous people and wicked people. He has chosen a time for everything. So there is a right time when he will judge people.’
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
15Whatever is happening now has happened before. Everything that will happen in the future has already happened. God causes the same things to happen again and again. 16I saw something else that happens on the earth. Judges should choose what is right, but instead they choose what is wicked. They should decide what is fair, but they do evil things. I said to myself, ‘One day, God will judge everyone, righteous people and wicked people. He has chosen a time for everything. So there is a right time when he will judge people.’ 18I also thought, ‘God wants people to know that they are like animals. That is why he tests us. 19The same thing happens to humans as happens to animals. We all breathe for a time and then we die. Humans are no different to animals. Life has no purpose.
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
Words taken from the KJV.
- I saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- in mine heartלֵבlêb · heartH3820
- Godאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
- shall judgeשָׁפַטshâphaţ · to judgeH8199
- the righteousצַדִּיקtsaddîyq · righteousH6662
- and the wickedרָשָׁעrâshâ‛ · wickedH7563
- a timeעֵת‛êth · timeH6256
- there for every purposeחֵ֫פֶץchêphets · pleasureH2656
- and for every workמַעֲשֶׂהma‛ăώeh · deedH4639
Cross-references for Ecclesiastes 3:17
- Ecclesiastes 1:16I said to myself, ‘Listen! I have become very wise! I am much wiser than any of the kings who ruled in Jerusalem before me. I know a lot more things than they ever did!’
- Ecclesiastes 2:1I said to myself, ‘I will enjoy the good things of life. I will see if that helps me to be happy.’ But I realized that this too had no purpose.
- Ecclesiastes 12:14Remember that God will judge everything that we do, to see if it is good or it is bad. He knows even the things that we do secretly.
- Genesis 18:25Will you kill them all, the good people and the bad people? Surely you would not do anything like that! You would not punish good people in the same way as bad people. You are the great judge of everyone on the earth. You will surely do what is right!’
- Psalms 98:9to praise the Lord. He is coming to judge the earth. He is a fair judge. He will judge all the people of the world honestly.
- Matthew 16:27I tell you all this because I, the Son of Man, will come back to this earth with God's angels. When I come, I will have the powerful beauty of my Father. I will see what each person has done on earth. Then I will pay them what is right.
- Matthew 25:31Jesus said, ‘I, the Son of Man, will return one day. Then people will see that I am great and powerful. All God's angels will come with me. I will sit on my great seat as king.
- John 5:22More than that, the Father does not judge anyone. He has given authority to the Son, so that the Son will judge all people.
- Acts 17:31God has already chosen one special day. On that day he will judge everyone in the world in a completely right way. He has chosen a man who will do this for him. He has shown clearly to everyone who that man is. He showed it like this: People killed that man. But God caused him to live again.’
- Romans 2:5But you refuse to change the way that you live. You are not sorry about the wrong things that you have done. As a result, you cause God to become even angrier with you. So he will punish you even more on the day when he will judge everyone. On that day, he will show how angry he is against people who do bad things. Everyone will know that he judges people in a right way.
- 1 Corinthians 4:5So you should not decide about things before the time is right. Wait until the Lord comes again. He will show everything clearly. He will show the bad things that people have done secretly. He will show the secret purpose of people's thoughts. Then God will praise each person in a way that is right for them.
- 2 Corinthians 5:10Because all of us must go and stand in front of Christ as our judge. He will decide about the things that we have done during our lives here on earth. Whether we have done good things or bad things, we will receive what is right for us.
- 2 Thessalonians 1:6God will punish those people who are causing trouble for you. He will cause trouble for them. That is right and fair.
- Revelation 20:11Then I saw a great white throne. I saw that God was sitting on it. The earth and the sky rushed away from the place where he sat. There was no longer any place for them.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1There is a right time for everything. Everything that we do on the earth has a proper time.
- Jeremiah 29:10The Lord says, ‘You will live in Babylon for 70 years. Then I will choose to help you. I will be kind to you, as I promised. I will bring you back here to your home.
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
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