Ecclesiastes 3–4

Everything Has Its Time

3To everything there is a season,

A ^atime for every purpose under heaven:

²A time ¹to be born,

And ^ba time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

³A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

⁴A time to ^cweep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

⁵A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

^dA time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

⁷A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

^eA time to keep silence,

And a time to ^fspeak;

⁸A time to love,

And a time to ^ghate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

^9hWhat profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰ⁱI have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that ^jno one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

¹²I know that nothing is ^kbetter for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³and also that ^levery man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that whatever God does,

It shall be forever.

^mNothing can be added to it,

And nothing taken from it.

God does it, that men should fear before Him.

¹⁵ⁿThat which is has already been,

And what is to be has already been;

And God ²requires an account of ³what is past.

Injustice Seems to Prevail

¹⁶Moreover ^oI saw under the sun:

In the place of ⁴judgment,

Wickedness was there;

And in the place of righteousness,

⁵Iniquity was there.

¹⁷I said in my heart,

^p“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,

For there is a time there for every ⁶purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” ^19qFor what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. ²⁰All go to one place: ^rall are from the dust, and all return to dust. ^21sWho ⁷knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? ^22tSo I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for ^uthat is his ⁸heritage. ^vFor who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

4Then I returned and considered all the ^aoppression that is done under the sun:

And look! The tears of the oppressed,

But they have no comforter—

¹On the side of their oppressors there is power,

But they have no comforter.

^2bTherefore I praised the dead who were already dead,

More than the living who are still alive.

^3cYet, better than both is he who has never existed,

Who has not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.

The Vanity of Selfish Toil

⁴Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind.

^5dThe fool folds his hands

And consumes his own flesh.

^6eBetter a handful with quietness

Than both hands full, together with toil and grasping for the wind.

⁷Then I returned, and I saw vanity under the sun:

⁸There is one alone, without ²companion:

He has neither son nor brother.

Yet there is no end to all his labors,

Nor is his ^feye satisfied with riches.

But ^ghe never asks,

“For whom do I toil and deprive myself of ^hgood?”

This also is vanity and a ³grave misfortune.

The Value of a Friend

⁹Two are better than one,

Because they have a good reward for their labor.

¹⁰For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.

But woe to him who is alone when he falls,

For he has no one to help him up.

¹¹Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;

But how can one be warm alone?

¹²Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.

And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Popularity Passes Away

¹³Better a poor and wise youth

Than an old and foolish king who will be admonished no more.

¹⁴For he comes out of prison to be king,

Although ⁴he was born poor in his kingdom.

¹⁵I saw all the living who walk under the sun;

They were with the second youth who stands in his place.

¹⁶There was no end of all the people ⁵over whom he was made king;

Yet those who come afterward will not rejoice in him.

Surely this also is vanity and grasping for the wind.