Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

1There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a 1time for every matter under heaven--2A time to give birth and a 2time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.3A 3time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.4A time to 4weep and a time to 5laugh; A time to mourn and a time to 6dance.5A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.6A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.7A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to 7be silent and a time to speak.8A time to love and a time to 8hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

99What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? 10I have seen the 10task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to 11occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Mankind

11He has 12made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind 13will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

12I know that there is 14nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; 13moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor--this is the 15gift of God. 14I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will 1617fear Him. 1518That which is, is what has already been, and that which will be has already been; and God 19seeks what has passed by.

16Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is 20wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. 17I said 21to myself, “22God will judge the righteous and the wicked,” for a 23time for every matter and for every deed 24is there. 18I said 25to myself regarding the sons of mankind, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are as 26animals, they to themselves.” 1927For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals 28is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility. 20All go to the same place. All came from the 29dust and all return to the dust. 21Who knows that the 30spirit of the sons of mankind ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth? 22I have seen that 31nothing is better than when a person is happy in his activities, for that is his 32lot. For who will bring him to see 33what will occur after him?