For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.
Parallel translations
- WEB For God will bring every work into judgment, with every hidden thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil.
- KJV For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
- NKJV For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil.
- NASB For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
- NLT God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God will judge every deed, including hidden ones, whether good or evil. It grounds the call to fear God in the certainty of final accountability.
Overview
The book closes by declaring a coming judgment in which God assesses every act, even those concealed from human eyes. This gives weight to the command of verse 13 and answers the book's tension over life's apparent injustices, assuring that nothing escapes God's righteous reckoning. The New Testament confirms this judgment is exercised through Christ (Acts 17:31), making him both the Judge to be feared and the Savior in whom believers find acquittal.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- 2 Cor 5:10For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.
- Rom 2:16on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Christ Jesus, as proclaimed by my gospel.
- Matt 12:36But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
- 1 Cor 4:5Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
- Matt 10:26So do not be afraid of them. For there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.
- Rom 14:10–12Why, then, do you judge your brother? Or why do you belittle your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat.
- Luke 12:1–2In the meantime, a crowd of many thousands had gathered, so that they were trampling one another. Jesus began to speak first to His disciples: “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.
- Eccl 11:9Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
- Eccl 3:17I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
- John 5:29and come out—those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.
- Acts 17:30–31Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.
- Matt 25:31–46When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His glorious throne.
- Rev 20:11–15Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.
- Ps 96:13before the LORD, for He is coming—He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The search that finds everything 'under the sun' to be vapor exposes the emptiness of life without God and drives us to the one who alone gives meaning, the resurrection that makes our labor not in vain.
How Ecclesiastes 12:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.