I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB 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.
- NLT 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.
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
Whatever God does endures forever and cannot be altered, so that people will fear Him. God's works are permanent and sovereign, calling us to reverent awe.
Overview
Qoheleth contrasts the permanence of God's works with the fleeting nature of human effort. Because nothing can be added to or taken from what God does, the proper response is the fear of God. This reverent awe is the heart of the book's message, and it finds its fullest meaning in worshiping the God whose eternal purposes are secured in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 26
- Jas 1:17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.
- Ps 33:11The counsel of the LORD stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.
- Rom 11:36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.
- Acts 5:39But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God.”
- Prov 30:6Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and prove you a liar.
- Titus 1:2in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.
- Prov 21:30There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- Acts 2:23He was delivered up by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross.
- Prov 19:21Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
- Eph 3:11according to the eternal purpose that He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- John 19:10–11So Pilate said to Him, “Do You refuse to speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You and authority to crucify You?”
- Dan 11:2–4Now then, I will tell you the truth: Three more kings will arise in Persia, and then a fourth, who will be far richer than all the others. By the power of his wealth, he will stir up everyone against the kingdom of Greece.
- Ps 76:10Even the wrath of man shall praise You; with the survivors of wrath You will clothe Yourself.
- Acts 4:28They carried out what Your hand and will had decided beforehand would happen.
- Ps 119:90–91Your faithfulness continues through all generations; You established the earth, and it endures.
- Ps 64:9Then all mankind will fear and proclaim the work of God; so they will ponder what He has done.
- Eccl 7:18It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.
- Dan 4:34–35But at the end of those days I, Nebuchadnezzar, looked up to heaven, and my sanity was restored to me. Then I praised the Most High, and I honored and glorified Him who lives forever: “For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation.
- Isa 46:10I declare the end from the beginning, and ancient times from what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and all My good pleasure I will accomplish.’
- Isa 59:18–19So He will repay according to their deeds: fury to His enemies, retribution to His foes, and recompense to the islands.
- Eccl 8:12–13Although a sinner does evil a hundred times and still lives long, yet I also know that it will go well with those who fear God, who are reverent in His presence.
- Eccl 5:7For as many dreams bring futility, so do many words. Therefore, fear God.
- Isa 10:12–15So when the Lord has completed all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the fruit of his arrogant heart and the proud look in his eyes.
- John 19:28–37After this, knowing that everything had now been accomplished, and to fulfill the Scripture, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”
- Dan 8:8Thus the goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off, and four prominent horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.
- Rev 15:4Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your righteous acts have been revealed.”
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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 3:14 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
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