Ecclesiastes 3:1–4:16

There Is a Time for Everything

3There is a time for everything,

and everything on earth has its special season.

²There is a time to be born

and a time to die.

There is a time to plant

and a time to pull up plants.

³There is a time to kill

and a time to heal.

There is a time to destroy

and a time to build.

⁴There is a time to cry

and a time to laugh.

There is a time to be sad

and a time to dance.

⁵There is a time to throw away stones

and a time to gather them.

There is a time to hug

and a time not to hug.

⁶There is a time to look for something

and a time to stop looking for it.

There is a time to keep things

and a time to throw things away.

⁷There is a time to tear apart

and a time to sew together.

There is a time to be silent

and a time to speak.

⁸There is a time to love

and a time to hate.

There is a time for war

and a time for peace.

God Controls His World

⁹Do people really gain anything from their work? ¹⁰I saw the hard work God has given people to do. ¹¹God has given them a desire to know the future. He does everything just right and on time, but people can never completely understand what he is doing. ¹²So I realize that the best thing for them is to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. ¹³God wants all people to eat and drink and be happy in their work, which are gifts from God. ¹⁴I know that everything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to what God has done, and they cannot take anything away from it. God does it this way to make people respect him.

¹⁵What happens now has happened in the past,

and what will happen in the future has happened before.

God makes the same things happen again and again.

Unfairness on Earth

¹⁶I also saw this here on earth:

Where there should have been justice, there was evil;

where there should have been right, there was wrong.

¹⁷I said to myself,

God has planned a time for every thing and every action,

so he will judge both good people and bad.

¹⁸I decided that God leaves it the way it is to test people and to show them they are just like animals. ¹⁹The same thing happens to animals and to people; they both have the same breath, so they both die. People are no better off than the animals, because everything is useless. ²⁰Both end up the same way; both came from dust and both will go back to dust. ²¹Who can be sure that the human spirit goes up to God and that the spirit of an animal goes down into the ground? ²²So I saw that the best thing people can do is to enjoy their work, because that is all they have. No one can help another person see what will happen in the future.

Is It Better to Be Dead?

4Again I saw all the people who were mistreated here on earth.

I saw their tears

and that they had no one to comfort them.

Cruel people had all the power,

and there was no one to comfort those they hurt.

²I decided that the dead

are better off than the living.

³But those who have never been born

are better off still;

they have not seen the evil

that is done here on earth.

Why Work So Hard?

⁴I realized the reason people work hard and try to succeed: They are jealous of each other. This, too, is useless, like chasing the wind.

⁵Some say it is foolish to fold your hands and do nothing,

because you will starve to death.

⁶Maybe so, but I say it is better to be content

with what little you have.

Otherwise, you will always be struggling for more,

and that is like chasing the wind.

⁷Again I saw something here on earth that was useless:

⁸I saw a man who had no family,

no son or brother.

He always worked hard

but was never satisfied with what he had.

He never asked himself, “For whom am I working so hard?

Why don’t I let myself enjoy life?”

This also is very sad and useless.

Friends and Family Give Strength

⁹Two people are better than one,

because they get more done by working together.

¹⁰If one falls down,

the other can help him up.

But it is bad for the person who is alone and falls,

because no one is there to help.

¹¹If two lie down together, they will be warm,

but a person alone will not be warm.

¹²An enemy might defeat one person,

but two people together can defend themselves;

a rope that is woven of three strings is hard to break.

Fame and Power Are Useless

¹³A poor but wise boy is better than a foolish but old king who doesn’t listen to advice. ¹⁴A boy became king. He had been born poor in the kingdom and had even gone to prison before becoming king. ¹⁵I watched all the people who live on earth follow him and make him their king. ¹⁶Many followed him at first, but later, they did not like him, either. So fame and power are useless, like chasing the wind.