For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.
Parallel translations
- WEB For there is a time and procedure for every purpose, although the misery of man is heavy on him.
- KJV Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.
- NKJV Because for every matter there is a time and judgment, Though the misery of man increases greatly.
- NASB For there is a proper time and procedure for every delight, though a person’s trouble is heavy upon him.
- NLT for there is a time and a way for everything, even when a person is in trouble.
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
Every purpose has its proper time and manner, yet human trouble still presses heavily upon us. Wisdom about timing does not exempt us from the burdens of a fallen world.
Overview
Building on verse 5, Qoheleth affirms that there is a fitting time for everything (echoing 3:1-8), while acknowledging that misery weighs on people because they cannot fully master the future. This tension is characteristic of Ecclesiastes: wisdom helps, but it cannot remove the curse. Only in Christ is the burden ultimately lifted (Matthew 11:28-30).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Eccl 3:1To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
- 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.”
- Luke 19:42–44and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes.
- Eccl 3:11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.
- Eccl 7:13–14Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent?
- Luke 17:26–30Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:
- 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.
- Heb 3:7–11Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,
- Luke 13:25After the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will stand outside knocking and saying, ‘Lord, open the door for us.’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know where you are from.’
- Isa 3:11–14Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.
- Isa 22:12–14On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
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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 8:6 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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