Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, May 15th, 2025
the Fourth Week after Easter
Attention!
For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads
free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda.
Click here to learn more!

Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

Ecclesiastes 3:10

I saw all the hard work God gave us to do.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- The Topic Concordance - God;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Time;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Garden;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Exercise;   Providence;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Aibu (Ibu);  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for September 23;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
I have seen the task that God has given the children of Adam to keep them occupied.
Hebrew Names Version
I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
King James Version
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
English Standard Version
I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with.
New American Standard Bible
I have seen the task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to occupy themselves.
New Century Version
I saw the hard work God has given people to do.
Amplified Bible
I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
World English Bible
I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
Geneva Bible (1587)
I haue seene the trauaile that God hath giuen to ye sonnes of men to humble them thereby.
Legacy Standard Bible
I have seen the endeavor which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.
Berean Standard Bible
I have seen the burden that God has laid on men to occupy them.
Contemporary English Version
I have seen what difficult things God demands of us.
Complete Jewish Bible
I have seen the task God has given humanity to keep us occupied.
Darby Translation
I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of men to toil in.
George Lamsa Translation
I have seen the toil which the LORD has given to the sons of men to be engaged therewith.
Good News Translation
I know the heavy burdens that God has laid on us.
Lexham English Bible
I have seen the busyness God gives to humans to preoccupy them.
Literal Translation
I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men, to be humbled by it.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For as touchinge the trauayle and carefulnesse which God hath geuen vnto me, I se that he hath geuen it them, to be exercised in it.
American Standard Version
I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
Bible in Basic English
I saw the work which God has put on the sons of man.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
I have seen the task which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
King James Version (1611)
I haue seene the trauaile which God hath giuen to the sonnes of men, to be exercised in it.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For as touchyng the trauayle and carefulnesse which God hath geuen vnto men, I see that he hath geuen it them to be exercised in it.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
I have seen all the trouble, which God has given to the sons of men to be troubled with.
English Revised Version
I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
I siy the turment, which God yaf to the sones of men, that thei be occupied therynne.
Update Bible Version
I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.
Webster's Bible Translation
I have seen the labor, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
New English Translation
I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied.
New King James Version
I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.
New Living Translation
I have seen the burden God has placed on us all.
New Life Bible
I have seen the work which God has given the sons of men to do.
New Revised Standard
I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
I looked at the employment which God hath given to the sons of men, to work therein:
Douay-Rheims Bible
I have seen the trouble, which God hath given the sons of men to be exercised in it.
Revised Standard Version
I have seen the business that God has given to the sons of men to be busy with.
Young's Literal Translation
I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

Contextual Overview

1 There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time. 2 There is a time to be born and a time to die. There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants. 3 There is a time to kill and a time to heal. There is a time to destroy and a time to build. 4 There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to dance with joy. 5 There is a time to throw weapons down and a time to pick them up. There is a time to hug someone and a time to stop holding so tightly. 6 There is a time to look for something and a time to consider it lost. There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away. 7 There is a time to tear cloth and a time to sew it. There is a time to be silent and a time to speak. 8 There is a time to love and a time to hate. There is a time for war and a time for peace. 9 Do people really gain anything from their hard work? 10 I saw all the hard work God gave us to do.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Ecclesiastes 1:13, Ecclesiastes 1:14, Ecclesiastes 2:26, Genesis 3:19, 1 Thessalonians 2:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:8

Reciprocal: Ecclesiastes 8:9 - this

Cross-References

Genesis 2:25
The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.
Genesis 3:7
Then it was as if their eyes opened, and they saw things differently. They saw that they were naked. So they got some fig leaves, sewed them together, and wore them for clothes.
Genesis 3:17
Then God said to the man, "I commanded you not to eat from that tree. But you listened to your wife and ate from it. So I will curse the ground because of you. You will have to work hard all your life for the food the ground produces.
Genesis 3:18
The ground will grow thorns and weeds for you. And you will have to eat the plants that grow wild in the fields.
Exodus 3:6
I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." Moses covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
Exodus 32:25
Moses saw that Aaron had let the people get out of control. They were being wild, and all their enemies could see them acting like fools.
Job 23:15
That is why I am terrified to stand before him. Just thinking about it makes me afraid.
Psalms 119:120
I am shaking with fear before you. I fear and respect your judgments.
Isaiah 33:14
The sinners in Zion are afraid. Those who do wrong shake with fear. They say, "Can any of us live through this fire that destroys? Who can live near this fire that burns forever?"
Isaiah 47:3
Men will see your naked body and use you for sex. I will make you pay for the bad things you did, and I will not let anyone help you.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men,.... The pains and trouble they are at to get a little wisdom and knowledge, Ecclesiastes 1:13; and so to obtain riches and honour, peace and plenty, which sometimes they do obtain, and sometimes not; and when they do, do not keep them long, for there is a time for everything. This the wise man had observed, in a variety of instances; and he considered the end of God in it, which was for men

to be exercised in it, or "by it"; or "to afflict" or "humble [them] by it" l; to let them see that all their toil and labour signified little; all depended on a divine blessing, and no happiness was to be had in the creatures; all was vanity and vexation of spirit;

Ecclesiastes 1:13- :.

l לענות בו "ad affligendum se in ea", Montanus; "ut eos adfligat in ea, sc. per eam", Rambachius; "ut ea redderet humiles", Tigurine version.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 3:10. I have seen the travail — Man is a sinner; and, because he is such, he suffers.


 
adsfree-icon
Ads FreeProfile