Ecclesiastes 3

There Is a Time for Everything

3There is a time for everything.

There’s a time for everything that is done on earth.

²There is a time to be born.

And there’s a time to die.

There is a time to plant.

And there’s a time to pull up what is planted.

³There is a time to kill.

And there’s a time to heal.

There is a time to tear down.

And there’s a time to build up.

⁴There is a time to cry.

And there’s a time to laugh.

There is a time to be sad.

And there’s a time to dance.

⁵There is a time to scatter stones.

And there’s a time to gather them.

There is a time to hug.

And there’s a time not to hug.

⁶There is a time to search.

And there’s a time to stop searching.

There is a time to keep.

And there’s a time to throw away.

⁷There is a time to tear.

And there’s a time to mend.

There is a time to be silent.

And there’s a time to speak.

⁸There is a time to love.

And there’s a time to hate.

There is a time for war.

And there’s a time for peace.

⁹What does the worker get for his hard work? ¹⁰I’ve seen the heavy load God has put on men. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also given men a sense of what he’s been doing down through the ages. But they can’t completely figure out what he’s done from the beginning to the end.

¹²They should be happy and do good while they live. I know there’s nothing better for them to do than that. ¹³Everyone should eat and drink. People should be satisfied with all of their hard work. That is God’s gift to them.

¹⁴I know that everything God does will last forever. Nothing can be added to it. And nothing can be taken from it. God does that so men will have respect for him.

¹⁵Everything that now exists has already been.

And what is coming has existed before.

God will judge those who treat others badly.

¹⁶Here’s something else I saw on earth.

Where people should be treated right,

they are treated wrong.

Where people should be treated fairly,

they are treated unfairly.

¹⁷I said to myself,

“God will judge

godly and sinful people alike.

He has a time for every act.

He has a time for everything that is done.”

¹⁸I also thought, “God puts human beings to the test. Then they can see they are just like animals. ¹⁹What happens to animals happens to people too. Death waits for people and animals alike. People die, just as animals do. All of them have the same breath. People don’t have any advantage over animals. Nothing has any meaning.

²⁰“People and animals go to the same place. All of them come from dust. And all of them return to dust. ²¹Who can know whether the spirit of a man goes up? Who can tell whether the spirit of an animal goes down into the earth?”

²²So man should enjoy his work. That’s what God made him for. I saw that there’s nothing better for him to do than that. After all, who can show him what will happen after he is gone?