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Ecclesiastes 3:14

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.
Ecclesiastes 3:14 · King James Version
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.
  • BSB 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.
  • 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 gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
  • Ps 33:11The counsel of the LORD standeth for ever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
  • Rom 11:36For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
  • Acts 5:39But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God.
  • Prov 30:6Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.
  • Titus 1:2In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
  • Prov 21:30There is no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the LORD.
  • Acts 2:23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:
  • Prov 19:21There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
  • Eph 3:11According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:
  • John 19:10–11Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee?
  • Dan 11:2–4And now will I shew thee the truth. Behold, there shall stand up yet three kings in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all: and by his strength through his riches he shall stir up all against the realm of Grecia.
  • Ps 76:10Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain.
  • Acts 4:28For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.
  • Ps 119:90–91Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth.
  • Ps 64:9And all men shall fear, and shall declare the work of God; for they shall wisely consider of his doing.
  • Eccl 7:18It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this; yea, also from this withdraw not thine hand: for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.
  • Dan 4:34–35And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation:
  • Isa 46:10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
  • Isa 59:18–19According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay, fury to his adversaries, recompence to his enemies; to the islands he will repay recompence.
  • Eccl 8:12–13Though a sinner do evil an hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before him:
  • Eccl 5:7For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.
  • Isa 10:12–15Wherefore it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.
  • John 19:28–37After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.
  • Dan 8:8Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
  • Rev 15:4Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Ecclesiastes videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Ecclesiastes 3:14YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on EcclesiastesMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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

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.