Ecclesiastes 3:17

The NET Bible®

I thought to myself, "God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment for every deed.

Parallel Translations

New Living Translation
I said to myself, "In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds."

Update Bible Version
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.

New Century Version
I said to myself, God has planned a time for every thing and every action, so he will judge both good people and bad.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
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."

Amplified Bible
I said to myself, "God will judge both the righteous and the wicked," for there is a time [appointed] for every matter and for every deed.

English Standard Version
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.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And Y seide in myn herte, The Lord schal deme a iust man, and an vnfeithful man; and the tyme of ech thing schal be thanne.

English Revised Version
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.

Berean Standard Bible
I said in my heart, "God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed."

Contemporary English Version
So I told myself that God has set a time and a place for everything. He will judge everyone, both the wicked and the good.

American Standard Version
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.

Bible in Basic English
I said in my heart, God will be judge of the good and of the bad; because a time for every purpose and for every work has been fixed by him.

Complete Jewish Bible
I said to myself, "The righteous and the wicked God will judge, because there is a right time for every intention and for every action."

Darby Translation
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.

Easy-to-Read Version
So I said to myself, "God has planned a time for everything, and he has planned a time to judge everything people do. He will judge good people and bad people."

JPS Old Testament (1917)
I said in my heart: 'The righteous and the wicked God will judge; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.'

King James Version (1611)
I said in mine heart, God shall iudge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there, for euery purpose and for euery worke.

New Life Bible
I said to myself, "God will judge both the man who is right and good, and the sinful man." For there is a time for everything to be done and a time for every work.

New Revised Standard
I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work.

Geneva Bible (1587)
I thought in mine heart, God wil iudge the iust and the wicked: for time is there for euery purpose and for euery worke.

George Lamsa Translation
I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time for every purpose and for every work.

Good News Translation
I told myself, "God is going to judge the righteous and the evil alike, because every thing, every action, will happen at its own set time."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Said, I, in my heart, Both the righteous and the lawless, will God judge, - for there will be a time for every pursuit, and concerning every work - there.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And I said in my heart: God shall judge both the just and the wicked, and then shall be the time of every thing.

Revised Standard Version
I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then thought I in my mynde, God shall separate the ryghteous from the vngodly: and then shalbe the tyme and iudgement of all counsayles & workes.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the ungodly: for there is a time there for every action and for every work.

Christian Standard Bible®
I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work.”

Hebrew Names Version
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."

King James Version
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.

Lexham English Bible
So I said to myself, "God will surely judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time of judgment for every deed and every work."

Literal Translation
I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every good purpose and for every work.

Young's Literal Translation
I said in my heart, `The righteous and the wicked doth God judge, for a time [is] to every matter and for every work there.'

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then thought I in my mynde: God shal separate the rightuous from the vngodly, & then shal be the tyme & iudgmet of all councels & workes.

New American Standard Bible
I said to myself, "God will judge the righteous and the wicked," for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.

New King James Version
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."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
I said to myself, "God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man," for a time for every matter and for every deed is there.

Legacy Standard Bible
I said in my heart, "God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man," for a time for every matter and for every work is there.

Contextual Overview

¹⁶ I saw something else on earth: In the place of justice, there was wickedness, and in the place of fairness, there was wickedness. ¹⁷ I thought to myself, "God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment for every deed. ¹⁸ I also thought to myself, "It is for the sake of people, so God can clearly show them that they are like animals. ¹⁹ For the fate of humans and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals, for both are fleeting. ²⁰ Both go to the same place, both come from the dust, and to dust both return. ²¹ Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal's spirit descends into the earth? ²² So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work, because that is their reward; for who can show them what the future holds?

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

said: Ecclesiastes 1:16, Ecclesiastes 2:1

God: Ecclesiastes 12:14, Genesis 18:25, Psalms 98:9, Matthew 16:27, Matthew 25:31-46, John 5:22, John 5:26-29, Acts 17:31, Romans 2:5-9, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 2 Corinthians 5:10, 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, Revelation 20:11-15

for: Ecclesiastes 3:1, Jeremiah 29:10, Jeremiah 29:11, Daniel 11:40, Daniel 12:4, Daniel 12:9, Daniel 12:11-13, Acts 1:7, 1 Thessalonians 5:1, 2 Peter 3:7, 2 Peter 3:8, Revelation 11:2, Revelation 11:3, Revelation 11:18, Revelation 17:12-17, Revelation 20:2, Revelation 20:7-9

Reciprocal: Job 24:1 - seeing Psalms 75:2 - receive the congregation Ecclesiastes 7:25 - the reason Ecclesiastes 8:6 - to every Ecclesiastes 9:11 - but Ecclesiastes 11:9 - know Ezekiel 18:30 - I will Zephaniah 3:5 - just Acts 24:25 - judgment Romans 2:16 - God

Cross-References

Genesis 3:2
The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit from the trees of the orchard;

Genesis 3:3
but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, or else you will die.'"

Genesis 3:5
for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open and you will be like divine beings who know good and evil."

Genesis 3:6
When the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, was attractive to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate it. She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.

Genesis 3:7
Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Genesis 3:9
But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?"

Genesis 3:11
And the Lord God said, "Who told you that you were naked? Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?"

Genesis 3:13
So the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman replied, "The serpent tricked me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:14
The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all the wild beasts and all the living creatures of the field! On your belly you will crawl and dust you will eat all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:16
To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you."

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,.... This he considered in his mind, and set it down for a certain truth, and which relieved him under the consideration of the sad perversion of justice; and made him easy under it, and willing to leave things to him that judgeth righteously, and wait his time when everything that was now wrong would be set right: he knew from reason, from tradition, and from the word of God, that there was a judgment to come, a general, righteous, and eternal one; that this judicial process would be carried on by God himself, who is holy, righteous, just, and true, omniscient, and omnipotent; and, being the Judge of all the earth, would do right; when he would vindicate the righteous, and clear them from all calumnies and charges; acquit and justify them, and condemn the wicked, pass a just sentence on them, and execute it;

for [there is] a time there for every purpose, and for every work; or "then", as Noldius; in the day of the great judgment, as the Targum adds; and which continues to paraphrase the words thus,

"for a time is appointed for every business, and for every work which they do in this world they shall be judged there;''

there is a time fixed, a day appointed, for the judgment of the world; though of that day and hour knows no man; yet, it is settled, and will certainly come, Acts 17:31; and when it is come, every purpose, counsel, and thought of men's hearts, will be made manifest, as well as every work, good or bad, open or secret, yea, every idle word, and men will be judged according to these; see 1 Corinthians 4:5

Matthew 12:36.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 original form all that was made of the dust of the ground Ecclesiastes 3:20. And though the destinies of man and beast are different, yet in our present lack of knowledge as to God’s future dealing with our spirits Ecclesiastes 3:21, man finds his portion (see the Ecclesiastes 2:10 note) in such labor and such joy as God assigns to him in his lifetime Ecclesiastes 3:22.

Ecclesiastes 3:16

I saw ... - Rather, I have seen (as in Ecclesiastes 3:10) under the sun the place etc. The place of judgment means the seat of the authorized judge. Compare “the place of the holy” Ecclesiastes 8:10.

Ecclesiastes 3:17

A time there - i. e., a time with God.

Ecclesiastes 3:18

literally, I said in my heart with regard to the sons of men, it is that God may prove them and show them that they are beasts, they themselves. “Showing” is the reading of the Septuagint and Syriac: the present Hebrew text reads “seeing.” The meaning is that the long delay of God’s judgment Ecclesiastes 3:16-17 is calculated to show people that the brevity of their life renders them incapable of following out and understanding His distributive justice.

Ecclesiastes 3:19

That which befalleth the sons of men - literally, the event (happenstance) of the sons of men, i. e., what comes upon them from outside, by virtue of the ordinance of God. See the Ecclesiastes 2:14 note. Death in particular Ecclesiastes 3:2, Ecclesiastes 3:11 is a part of the “work that God doeth.”

Ecclesiastes 3:21

The King James Version of this verse is the only rendering which the Hebrew text, as now pointed, allows. It is in accordance with the best Jewish and many modern interpreters. A slightly different pointing would be requisite to authorize the translation, “Who knows the spirit of the sons of man whether it goes above, and, the spirit of the beast whether it goes down below?” etc., which, though it seems neither necessary nor suitable, is sanctioned by the Septuagint and other versions and by some modern interpreters.

Who knoweth - This expression (used also in Ecclesiastes 2:19; Ecclesiastes 6:12) does not necessarily imply complete and absolute ignorance. In Psalms 90:11, it is applied to what is partially understood: compare similar forms of expression in Proverbs 31:10; Psalms 94:16; Isaiah 53:1. Moreover, it is evident from marginal references that Solomon did not doubt the future existence and destination of the soul. This verse can only be construed as a confession of much ignorance on the subject.

Ecclesiastes 3:22

What shall be after him - i. e., What shall become of the results of his work after he is dead. Compare Ecclesiastes 2:19; Ecclesiastes 6:12.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 17. For 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.