Passage

Ecclesiastes 3.15

Book: Ecclesiastes · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

13. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God. 14. I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it; and God hath done it, that men should fear before him.

15. That which is hath been long ago; and that which is to be hath long ago been: and God seeketh again that which is passed away.

And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. 17. I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. (Ecclesiastes 3:13-17, ASV)

WEB

13. Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God. 14. 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.

15. That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago: and God seeks again that which is passed away.

Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. 17. I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” (Ecclesiastes 3:13-17, WEB)

KJV

13. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God. 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.

15. That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past. ^{that which is past: Heb. that which is driven away}

And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there. 17. I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work. (Ecclesiastes 3:13-17, KJV)

YLT

13. yea, even every man who eateth and hath drunk and seen good by all his labour, it [is] a gift of God. 14. I have known that all that God doth is to the age, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God hath wrought that they do fear before Him.

15. What is that which hath been? already it is, and that which [is] to be hath already been, and God requireth that which is pursued.

And again, I have seen under the sun the place of judgment, there [is] the wicked; and the place of righteousness, there [is] the wicked. 17. I said in my heart, 'The righteous and the wicked doth God judge, for a time [is] to every matter and for every work there.' (Ecclesiastes 3:13-17, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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TBD
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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

The Cold Case Argument

Notes

Your annotations.

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.