I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
Parallel translations
- WEB I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
- BSB I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.
- NKJV I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.
- NASB I have seen the task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to occupy themselves.
- NLT I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.
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
He has seen the burden God has given people to be occupied with. Life's labors are a God-appointed task that humbles humanity.
Overview
Qoheleth observes that God has assigned humanity a weighty 'business' to engage with. This burden reflects the toil of life under the curse, yet it comes from God's hand and purpose. Recognizing our labor as divinely appointed invites us to depend on God rather than to find ultimate rest in the work itself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Eccl 1:13–14And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
- Gen 3:19In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
- Eccl 2:26For God giveth to a man that is good in his sight wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit.
- 1 Th 2:9For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God.
- 2 Th 3:8Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you:
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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 3:10 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.