Lectionary Calendar
Wednesday, August 6th, 2025
the Week of Proper 13 / Ordinary 18
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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Ecclesiastes 3:10

This verse is not available in the MSG!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- The Topic Concordance - God;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Time;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Garden;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Exercise;   Providence;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Aibu (Ibu);  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for September 23;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I have seen the task that God has given the children of Adam to keep them occupied.
Hebrew Names Version
I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
King James Version
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
English Standard Version
I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
New American Standard Bible
I have seen the task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to occupy themselves.
New Century Version
I saw the hard work God has given people to do.
Amplified Bible
I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
World English Bible
I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
Geneva Bible (1587)
I haue seene the trauaile that God hath giuen to ye sonnes of men to humble them thereby.
Legacy Standard Bible
I have seen the endeavor which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
Berean Standard Bible
I have seen the burden that God has laid on men to occupy them.
Contemporary English Version
I have seen what difficult things God demands of us.
Complete Jewish Bible
I have seen the task God has given humanity to keep us occupied.
Darby Translation
I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of men to toil in.
Easy-to-Read Version
I saw all the hard work God gave us to do.
George Lamsa Translation
I have seen the toil which the LORD has given to the sons of men to be engaged therewith.
Good News Translation
I know the heavy burdens that God has laid on us.
Lexham English Bible
I have seen the busyness God gives to humans to preoccupy them.
Literal Translation
I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men, to be humbled by it.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For as touchinge the trauayle and carefulnesse which God hath geuen vnto me, I se that he hath geuen it them, to be exercised in it.
American Standard Version
I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
Bible in Basic English
I saw the work which God has put on the sons of man.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
I have seen the task which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
King James Version (1611)
I haue seene the trauaile which God hath giuen to the sonnes of men, to be exercised in it.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For as touchyng the trauayle and carefulnesse which God hath geuen vnto men, I see that he hath geuen it them to be exercised in it.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I have seen all the trouble, which God has given to the sons of men to be troubled with.
English Revised Version
I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
I siy the turment, which God yaf to the sones of men, that thei be occupied therynne.
Update Bible Version
I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
Webster's Bible Translation
I have seen the labor, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
New English Translation
I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied.
New King James Version
I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.
New Living Translation
I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.
New Life Bible
I have seen the work which God has given the sons of men to do.
New Revised Standard
I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I looked at the employment which God hath given to the sons of men, to work therein:
Douay-Rheims Bible
I have seen the trouble, which God hath given the sons of men to be exercised in it.
Revised Standard Version
I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.
Young's Literal Translation
I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

Contextual Overview

1 There's an opportune time to do things, a right time for everything on the earth: 2A right time for birth and another for death, A right time to plant and another to reap, A right time to kill and another to heal, A right time to destroy and another to construct, A right time to cry and another to laugh, A right time to lament and another to cheer, A right time to make love and another to abstain, A right time to embrace and another to part, A right time to search and another to count your losses, A right time to hold on and another to let go, A right time to rip out and another to mend, A right time to shut up and another to speak up, A right time to love and another to hate, A right time to wage war and another to make peace. 9But in the end, does it really make a difference what anyone does? I've had a good look at what God has given us to do—busywork, mostly. True, God made everything beautiful in itself and in its time—but he's left us in the dark, so we can never know what God is up to, whether he's coming or going. I've decided that there's nothing better to do than go ahead and have a good time and get the most we can out of life. That's it—eat, drink, and make the most of your job. It's God's gift.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ecclesiastes 1:13, Ecclesiastes 1:14, Ecclesiastes 2:26, Genesis 3:19, 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:8

Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 8:9 - this

Cross-References

Genesis 3:7
Immediately the two of them did "see what's really going on"—saw themselves naked! They sewed fig leaves together as makeshift clothes for themselves.
Genesis 3:17
He told the Man: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree That I commanded you not to eat from, ‘Don't eat from this tree,' The very ground is cursed because of you; getting food from the ground Will be as painful as having babies is for your wife; you'll be working in pain all your life long. The ground will sprout thorns and weeds, you'll get your food the hard way, Planting and tilling and harvesting, sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, Until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt."
Exodus 3:6
Then he said, "I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." Moses hid his face, afraid to look at God.
Exodus 32:25
Moses saw that the people were simply running wild—Aaron had let them run wild, disgracing themselves before their enemies. He took up a position at the entrance to the camp and said, "Whoever is on God 's side, join me!" All the Levites stepped up.
Isaiah 57:11
"Who talked you into the pursuit of this nonsense, leaving me high and dry, forgetting you ever knew me? Because I don't yell and make a scene do you think I don't exist? I'll go over, detail by detail, all your ‘righteous' attempts at religion, and expose the absurdity of it all. Go ahead, cry for help to your collection of no-gods: A good wind will blow them away. They're smoke, nothing but smoke. "But anyone who runs to me for help will inherit the land, will end up owning my holy mountain!"
Revelation 16:15
"Keep watch! I come unannounced, like a thief. You're blessed if, awake and dressed, you're ready for me. Too bad if you're found running through the streets, naked and ashamed."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men,.... The pains and trouble they are at to get a little wisdom and knowledge, Ecclesiastes 1:13; and so to obtain riches and honour, peace and plenty, which sometimes they do obtain, and sometimes not; and when they do, do not keep them long, for there is a time for everything. This the wise man had observed, in a variety of instances; and he considered the end of God in it, which was for men

to be exercised in it, or "by it"; or "to afflict" or "humble [them] by it" l; to let them see that all their toil and labour signified little; all depended on a divine blessing, and no happiness was to be had in the creatures; all was vanity and vexation of spirit;

Ecclesiastes 1:13- :.

l לענות בו "ad affligendum se in ea", Montanus; "ut eos adfligat in ea, sc. per eam", Rambachius; "ut ea redderet humiles", Tigurine version.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 3:10. I have seen the travail — Man is a sinner; and, because he is such, he suffers.


 
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