the Week of Proper 21 / Ordinary 26
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
Updated Bible Version
Ecclesiastes 3:14
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- BakerEncyclopedias:
- TheDevotionals:
- EveryParallel Translations
I know that everything God does will be forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it—God has so worked that men should fear Him.
I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him.
I considered also that whatsoeuer God doth, it continueth for euer: And that nothyng can be put vnto it, nor taken from it, & that God doth it to the intent that men shoulde feare hym.
I know that whatever God doeth, it shall be for ever; there is nothing to be added to it, nor anything to be taken from it; and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.
I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.
I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever; nothing is to be added to it, and nothing is to diminish from it. And God does it so that they fear before Him.
I learned that anything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to the work of God, and they cannot take anything away from it. God did this so that people would respect him.
I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him.
I know that whatsoeuer God doeth, it shalbe for euer: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doth it, that men should feare before him.
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
I cosidered also yt what so euer God doth, it cotinueth for euer, & yt nothinge can be put vnto it ner take from it: & yt God doth it to ye intent, yt men shulde feare him.
I've also concluded that whatever God does, that's the way it's going to be, always. No addition, no subtraction. God's done it and that's it. That's so we'll quit asking questions and simply worship in holy fear.
I know that whatever God does, it endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor can anything be taken from it, for God does it so that men will fear and worship Him [with awe-filled reverence, knowing that He is God].
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done it, that men should fear before him.
I am certain that whatever God does will be for ever. No addition may be made to it, nothing may be taken from it; and God has done it so that man may be in fear before him.
I know that, whatever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.
I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.
Everything God has done will last forever; nothing he does can ever be changed. God has done all this, so that we will worship him.
I know that whatever God does will last forever; there is nothing to add or subtract from it; and God has done it so that people will fear him.
I knowe that whatsoeuer God shall doe, it shalbe for euer: to it can no man adde, and from it can none diminish: for God hath done it, that they should feare before him.
I know that whatsoever the LORD does, it shall be for ever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it; and the LORD has so made it that men should reverence him.
I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him.
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor any thing taken from it; and God hath so made it, that men should fear before Him.
And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God's purpose is that people should fear him.
I know that everything God does will last forever. There is nothing to add to it, and nothing to take from it. God works so that men will honor Him with fear.
I know that whatsoever things God has done, they shall be for ever: it is impossible to add to it, and it is impossible to take away from it: and God has done it, that men may fear before him.
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God hath done it, that men should fear before him.
I know that everything God does will remain forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God works that men should revere Him.
I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.
I know, that, whatsoever God doeth, the same, shall be age-abiding, unto it, there is nothing to add, and, from it, there is nothing to take away, - and, God, hath done it, that men should stand in awe before him.
I have learned that all the works which God hath made, continue for ever: we cannot add any thing, nor take away from those things which God hath made that he may be feared.
I know everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it, for God so acts that humans might stand in awe before him.
I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.
I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will fear Him.
I know that everything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to what God has done, and they cannot take anything away from it. God does it this way to make people respect him.
I know that everything God does will last forever. You can't add anything to it or take anything away from it. And one thing God does is to make us stand in awe of him.
I know that all God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of Him.
I haue lerned that alle werkis, whiche God made, lasten stidfastli `til in to with outen ende; we moun not adde ony thing to tho, nether take awei fro tho thingis, whiche God made, that he be dred.
I know that whatever God does endures for ever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has made it so, in order that men should fear before him.
I have known that all that God doth is to the age, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God hath wrought that they do fear before Him.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
whatsoever: Psalms 33:11, Psalms 119:90, Psalms 119:91, Isaiah 46:10, Daniel 4:34, Daniel 4:35, Acts 2:23, Acts 4:28, Romans 11:36, Ephesians 3:11, Titus 1:2, James 1:17
nothing: Psalms 76:10, Proverbs 19:21, Proverbs 21:30, Proverbs 30:6, Isaiah 10:12-15, Daniel 8:8, Daniel 11:2-4, John 19:10, John 19:11, John 19:28-37, Acts 5:39
God doeth it: Psalms 64:9, Isaiah 59:18, Isaiah 59:19, Revelation 15:4
Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 32:4 - his work Job 23:13 - who can Job 42:2 - can be withholden from thee Psalms 119:152 - thy testimonies Psalms 119:160 - and every one Ecclesiastes 1:15 - crooked Ecclesiastes 8:12 - fear before Ecclesiastes 9:11 - but Matthew 6:27 - by
Cross-References
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, has God really said, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?
and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed: he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
And the man called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.
Whoever sheds man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: For in the image of God he made man.
You shall therefore make a distinction between the clean beast and the unclean, and between the unclean fowl and the clean: and you shall not make your souls detestable by beast, or by bird, or by anything with which the ground teems, which I have separated from you as unclean.
Those that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; And his enemies shall lick the dust.
And you shall be brought down, and shall speak out of the ground, and your speech shall be low out of the dust; and your voice shall be as a spirit out of the ground, and your speech shall whisper out of the dust.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says Yahweh.
They shall lick the dust like a serpent; like crawling things of the earth they shall come trembling out of their close places; they shall come with fear to Yahweh our God, and shall be afraid because of you.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever,.... Which some, as Jarchi, understand of the works of creation, the heavens and the earth, which are however of long standing and duration; and though they shall be dissolved and perish, as to their form and quality, yet not as to the substance of them: the earth particularly is said to abide for ever, Ecclesiastes 1:4; the sun and moon, and stars, keep their course or station; and the several seasons of the year have their constant revolution, and shall as long as the earth endures; see Genesis 8:22; the several kinds of creatures God has made, in the earth, air, and sea, though the individuals die, their species remain; and man, the chief of creatures, though he dies, shall live again, and live for ever; so the Arabic version,
"I have learned that all the creatures which God hath made shall perpetually remain in the same order and condition:''
though Abarbinel o interprets this of the continuance of the world for a certain time, and then of the destruction of it; which he thinks is supported by Ecclesiastes 3:15, and which is to be understood of the creation of one world after another; and that which is past he explains of the world that is destroyed. But rather this is to be understood of the decrees of God, which are his works "ad intra"; the thoughts of his heart, that are to all generations; the counsel of his will, which always stands, and is performed; his mind, which is one, the same always, and invariable, and which he never changes; his pleasure he always does; his purposes and appointments, which are always accomplished, never frustrated and made void: for he is all wise in forming them, all knowing, and sees the end from the beginning, so that nothing unforeseen can turn up to hinder the execution of them; he is unchangeable, and never alters his will; and all powerful, able to effect his great designs; and faithful and true, cannot deny himself, nor ever lie nor repent. To this sense is the Targum,
"I know, by a spirit of prophecy, that all which the Lord does in the world, whether good or evil, after it is decreed from his mouth, it shall be for ever.''
This holds good of all his works, and acts of grace; election of persons to eternal life stands firm, not on the foot of works, but of grace, and has its certain effect; it can never be made void, nor be surer than it is; it will ever take place, and continue in its fruit and consequences: the covenant of grace, as it is made from everlasting, continues to everlasting; its promises never, fail, its blessings are the sure mercies of David: redemption by Christ is eternal; such as are redeemed from sin, Satan, and the law, are ever so, and shall never be brought into bondage to either again: the work of grace upon the heart being begun, shall be performed and perfected; the graces wrought in the soul, as faith, hope, and love, ever remain; the blessings of grace bestowed, as pardon, justification, adoption, and salvation, are never reversed, but ever continue; such as are regenerated, pardoned, justified, adopted, and saved, shall be ever so; and the work of God, as it is durable, so perfect;
nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; the works of nature have been finished and perfected from the foundation of the world; the decrees of God are a complete system of his will, according to which he does all things invariably, in providence and grace; the covenant of grace is ordered in all things, and nothing wanting in it; the work of redemption is completely done by Christ, who is a rock, and his work is perfect; and the work of grace on the heart, though at present imperfect, shall be perfected; nor is it in the power of men to add anything to it, nor take anything from it;
and God doth [it], that [men] should fear before him; his works of creation being done in so much wisdom, and giving such a display of his power and goodness, command art awe of him in his creatures,
Psalms 33:6; his works of providence, being all according to his wise purposes and decrees, should be patiently and quietly submitted to; and men should be still, and know that he is God, and humble themselves under his mighty hand: his decrees, respecting the present or future state of men, do not lead to despair, nor to a neglect of means, nor to a dissolute life, but tend to promote the fear of God and true holiness, which they are the source of; and the blessings of grace have a kind influence on the same; particularly the blessing of pardoning grace, which is with God, that he may be feared, Psalms 130:4; and one principal part of the work of grace on the heart is the fear of God; and nothing more strongly engages to the whole worship of God, which is often meant by the fear of him, than his grace vouchsafed to men; see Hebrews 12:28. The Targum refers this to the vengeance of God in the world: and Jarchi, to the unusual phenomena in it; as the flood, the sun's standing still and going backward, and the like.
o Miphalot Elohim Tract. 8. c. 7. fol. 57. 4.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The last clause of this verse goes beyond a declaration of the fact of God’s government of the world Ecclesiastes 2:26 by adding the moral effect which that fact is calculated to produce on those who see it. It is the first indication of the practical conclusion Ecclesiastes 12:13 of the book.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever — לעולם leolam, for eternity; in reference to that grand consummation of men and things intimated in Ecclesiastes 3:11. God has produced no being that he intends ultimately to destroy. He made every thing in reference to eternity; and, however matter may be changed and refined, animal and intellectual beings shall not be deprived of their existence. The brute creation shall be restored, and all human spirits shall live for ever; the pure in a state of supreme and endless blessedness, the impure in a state of indestructible misery.
Nothing can be put to it — No new order of beings, whether animate or inanimate, can be produced. God will not create more; man cannot add.
Nor any thing taken from it — Nothing can be annihilated; no power but that which can create can destroy. And whatever he has done, he intended to be a means of impressing a just sense of his being, providence, mercy, and judgments, upon the souls of men. A proper consideration of God's works has a tendency to make man a religious creature; that is, to impress his mind with a sense of the existence of the Supreme Being, and the reverence that is due to him. In this sense the fear of God is frequently taken in Scripture. The Hebrew of this clause is strongly emphatic: והאלהים עשה שייראו מלפניו vehaelohim asah sheiyireu millephanaiv;
"And the gods he hath done, that they might fear from before his faces." Even the doctrine of the eternal Trinity in Unity may be collected from numberless appearances in nature. A consideration of the herb trefoil is said to have been the means of fully convincing the learned Erasmus of the truth of the assertion, These Three are One: and yet three distinct. He saw the same root, the same fibres, the same pulpy substance, the same membraneous covering, the same colour, the same taste, the same smell, in every part; and yet the three leaves distinct: but each and all a continuation of the stem, and proceeding from the same root. Such a fact as this may at least illustrate the doctrine. An intelligent shepherd, whom he met upon the mountains, is said to have exhibited the herb, and the illustration while discoursing on certain difficulties in the Christian faith. When a child, I heard a learned man relate this fact.
