Ecclesiastes 3:1–13

Everything in God’s Own Time

¹Everything has its own time, and there is a specific time for every activity under heaven: 

²a time to be born and 

a time to die, 

a time to plant and 

a time to pull out what was planted, 

³a time to kill and 

a time to heal, 

a time to tear down and 

a time to build up, 

⁴a time to cry and 

a time to laugh, 

a time to mourn and 

a time to dance, 

⁵a time to scatter stones and 

a time to gather them, 

a time to hug and 

a time to stop hugging, 

⁶a time to start looking and 

a time to stop looking, 

a time to keep and 

a time to throw away, 

⁷a time to tear apart and 

a time to sew together, 

a time to keep quiet and 

a time to speak out, 

⁸a time to love and 

a time to hate, 

a time for war and 

a time for peace. 

God Gives Mortals a Sense of Eternity

⁹What do working people gain from their hard labor? ¹⁰I have seen mortals weighed down with a burden that God has placed on them. ¹¹It is beautiful how God has done everything at the right time. He has put a sense of eternity in people’s minds. Yet, mortals still can’t grasp what God is doing from the beginning to the end ⸤of time⸥. 

¹²I realize that there’s nothing better for them to do than to be cheerful and enjoy what is good in their lives. ¹³It is a gift from God to be able to eat and drink and experience the good that comes from every kind of hard work.