Ecclesiastes 3:4–11

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

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

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

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What do workers gain from their toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, and a time for peace.

9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to get, and a time to lose;

A time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew;

A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 A time to love, and a time to hate;

A time of war, and a time of peace.

9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?

10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. 11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

4 A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

5 A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

6 A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

7 A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

8 A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.

9 What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

4 There is a time to cry

and a time to laugh.

There is a time to be sad

and a time to dance.

5 There 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.

6 There 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.

7 There is a time to tear apart

and a time to sew together.

There is a time to be silent

and a time to speak.

8 There is a time to love

and a time to hate.

There is a time for war

and a time for peace.

9 Do people really gain anything from their work? 10 I saw the hard work God has given people to do. 11 God 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.

4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. 9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? 10 I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. 11 He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.

4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to seek, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 A time to love, and a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace. 9 What profit hath he that worketh from that wherein he laboureth? 10 I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of men to toil in.

11 He hath made everything beautiful in its time; also he hath set the world in their heart, so that man findeth not out from the beginning to the end the work that God doeth.

4 a time to cry and 

a time to laugh, 

a time to mourn and 

a time to dance, 

5 a time to scatter stones and 

a time to gather them, 

a time to hug and 

a time to stop hugging, 

6 a time to start looking and 

a time to stop looking, 

a time to keep and 

a time to throw away, 

7 a time to tear apart and 

a time to sew together, 

a time to keep quiet and 

a time to speak out, 

8 a time to love and 

a time to hate, 

a time for war and 

a time for peace. 

9 What do working people gain from their hard labor? 10 I have seen mortals weighed down with a burden that God has placed on them. 11 It is beautiful how God has done everything at the right time. He has put a sense of eternity in people’s minds. Yet, mortals still can’t grasp what God is doing from the beginning to the end ⸤of time⸥. 

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn and a time to dance;

5 a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing;

6 a time to search and a time to count as lost;

a time to keep and a time to throw away;

7 a time to tear and a time to sew;

a time to be silent and a time to speak;

8 a time to love and a time to hate;

a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What does the worker gain from his struggles? 10 I have seen the task that God has given people to keep them occupied. 11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but man cannot discover the work God has done from beginning to end.

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn and a time to dance;

5 a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 a time to seek and a time to lose;

a time to keep and a time to throw away;

7 a time to tear and a time to sew;

a time to keep silent and a time to speak;

8 a time to love and a time to hate;

a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What gain have the workers from their toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. 11 He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn and a time to dance;

5 a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones;

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 a time to seek and a time to lose;

a time to keep and a time to throw away;

7 a time to tear and a time to sew;

a time to be silent and a time to speak;

8 a time to love and a time to hate;

a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What does the worker gain in his toil?

10 I have seen the business God gives to humans to preoccupy them. 11 He has made everything suitable in its time. He also has put the past in their hearts, yet no one can grasp what God does from the beginning to the end.

4 There 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.

5 There 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.

6 There 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.

7 There 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.

8 There 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.

9 What does the worker get for his hard work? 10 I’ve seen the heavy load God has put on men. 11 He 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.

4 A time to weep and a time to laugh;

A time to mourn and a time to dance.

5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost;

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

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

A time to be silent and a time to speak.

8 A time to love and a time to hate;

A time for war and a time for peace.

9 What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?

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

11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.