Ecclesiastes 3:12-14
New English Translation
Enjoy Life in the Present
12 I have concluded[a] that there is nothing better for people[b]
than[c] to be happy and to enjoy
themselves[d] as long as they live,
13 and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil,
for these things[e] are a gift from God.
God’s Sovereignty
14 I also know that whatever God does will endure forever;
nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it.
God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 3:12 tn Heb “I know.”
- Ecclesiastes 3:12 tn Heb “for them”; the referent (people, i.e., mankind) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
- Ecclesiastes 3:12 tn Qoheleth uses the exceptive particle כִּי אִם (ki ʾim, “except”) to identify the only exception to the futility within man’s life (BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 2).
- Ecclesiastes 3:12 tn Heb “to do good.” The phrase לַעֲשׂוֹת טוֹב (laʿasot tov) functions idiomatically for “to experience [or see] happiness [or joy].” The verb עָשַׂה (ʿasah) probably denotes “to acquire; to obtain” (BDB 795 s.v. עָשַׂה II.7), and טוֹב (tov) means “good; pleasure; happiness,” e.g., Eccl 2:24; 3:13; 5:17 (BDB 375 s.v. טוֹב 1).
- Ecclesiastes 3:13 tn Heb “for it.” The referent of the third person feminine singular independent person pronoun (“it”) is probably the preceding statement: “to eat, drink, and find satisfaction.” This would be an example of an anacoluthon (GKC 505-6 §167.b). Thus the present translation uses “these things” to indicate the reference back to the preceding.
Ecclesiastes 3:12-14
New International Version
12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13 That each of them may eat and drink,(A) and find satisfaction(B) in all their toil—this is the gift of God.(C) 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.(D)
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