---
title: "Ecclesiastes 8:11"
description: "Delayed justice emboldens evil. When wrongdoing goes unpunished, people are 'given fully to do evil.' The 'justice later' strategy — declaring abortion wrong but declining to punish it now — is the very condition Ecclesiastes says multiplies evil."
type: "scripture"
book: "Ecclesiastes"
chapter: 8
verses: "11"
translation: "NASB"
refutes: "Pro-life incrementalism"
affirms_abolition: true
themes:
  - "delayed justice"
  - "justice later"
  - "emboldening evil"
  - "deterrence"
source_url: "https://www.abhortion.org/scripture/ecclesiastes-8-11.html"
---

# Ecclesiastes 8:11

Book of Ecclesiastes · Chapter 8

## The text

> Because the sentence against an evil deed is not executed quickly, therefore the hearts of the sons of men among them are given fully to do evil.
> — Ecclesiastes 8:11, NASB

**The claim this verse counters:** "We can defer criminalizing abortion to a later stage ('justice later') once the culture is ready."

## The argument

Delayed justice emboldens evil. When wrongdoing goes unpunished, people are 'given fully to do evil.' The 'justice later' strategy — declaring abortion wrong but declining to punish it now — is the very condition Ecclesiastes says multiplies evil.

## Context & notes

The speaker assigns this verse to the 'justice later' position and reports opponents never answer it in debate. Empirically buttressed by post-Dobbs data: national abortion totals rose after Roe fell, as bans were paired with non-prosecution and telehealth expansion (see arguments file).

## Themes

- delayed justice
- justice later
- emboldening evil
- deterrence

## Discussion questions

1. Scripture says unpunished evil multiplies. What has happened to national abortion numbers in the years since Roe was overturned?
2. If 'justice later' is biblically sound, why does Ecclesiastes tie delayed sentencing to hearts 'given fully to do evil'?

## Source transcript

Drawn from Does the Pro-Life Movement Hate Justice? (T. Russell Hunter, 'Justice Alone') — 'The justice later people are Ecclesiastes 8:11... every time I debate them and bring it up, they don't answer it.'.

## Related

**Related scriptures:**

- [Habakkuk 1:4](habakkuk-1-4.md)
- [Deuteronomy 16:20](deuteronomy-16-20.md)
- [Isaiah 10:1-2](isaiah-10-1-2.md)

**Related arguments:**

- [God commands 'justice, and only justice' — not partial or deferred justice](../arguments/arg-justice-only.md)
- [Obeying God is the most pragmatic path — disobedience 'to get results' does not work](../arguments/arg-obedience-pragmatic.md)
- [“A bill that protects some children now is better than a bill that protects none and…”](../arguments/def-some-justice-better.md)

## Sources

- [Abortion Trends Before and After Dobbs (national totals rose to ~1.14M in 2024)](https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/abortion-trends-before-and-after-dobbs/)
  KFF — data

## Attribution

Verse text is quoted from the NASB. Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org