Ecclesiastes 3

CHAPTER 3

A Time for Everything

¹There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a ^atime for every ¹matter under heaven—

²A time to give birth and a ^atime to die;

A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

³A ^atime to kill and a time to heal;

A time to tear down and a time to build up.

⁴A time to ^aweep and a time to ^blaugh;

A time to mourn and a time to ^cdance.

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 lose;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

⁷A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;

A time to ^abe silent and a time to speak.

⁸A time to love and a time to ^ahate;

A time for war and a time for peace.

^9aWhat advantage is there to the worker from that in which he labors?

¹⁰I have seen the ^aendeavor which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

¹¹He has ^amade everything ¹beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, ²yet so that man ^bwill not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

¹²I know that ¹there is ^anothing better for them than to be glad and to do good in one’s lifetime;

¹³moreover, that every man who eats and drinks and sees good in all his labor—it is the ^agift of God.

¹⁴I know that everything God does will be forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it—God has so worked that men should ^1afear Him.

¹⁵That ^awhich is has been already and that which will be has already been, yet God seeks what is pursued.

¹⁶Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is ^awickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

¹⁷I said in my heart, “^aGod will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a ^btime for every ¹matter and for every work is there.

¹⁸I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are but ^abeasts.”

^19aFor the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same fate for each of them. As one dies so dies the other, and they all have the same breath. So there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is ¹vanity.

²⁰All go to the same place. All came from the ^adust, and all return to the dust.

²¹Who knows that the ^abreath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?

²²I have seen that ^anothing is better than that man should be glad in his works, for that is his portion. For who will bring him to see ^bwhat will occur after him?