Ecclesiastes 3:17 (KJV)

Passage

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.

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 3:15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.

Ecclesiastes 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

Ecclesiastes 3:17 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 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Ecclesiastes 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "purpose", "said", "mine", "heart", "shall", "judge", "righteous", and "wicked". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "purpose" and "said", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 16's "And moreover I saw under the sun..." into verse 18's "I said in mine heart concerning the...", so "purpose" and "said" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "purpose" and "said" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.