Ecclesiastes 3:1–13

A Time for Everything

3There is a time^g for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,^h

³a time to killⁱ and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

⁴a time to weep 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 embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

⁶a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

⁷a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent^j and a time to speak,

⁸a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What do workers gain from their toil?^{k 10}I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.^{l 11}He has made everything beautiful in its time.^m He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^a no one can fathomⁿ what God has done from beginning to end.^{o 12}I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³That each of them may eat and drink,^p and find satisfaction^q in all their toil—this is the gift of God.^r