الجامِعَة 3

١ 1 لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ أَوَانٌ، وَلِكُلِّ أَمْرٍ تَحْتَ السَّمَاءِ زَمَانٌ.

Everything has its own time—a time for all that happens here:

٢ 2 لِلْوِلادَةِ وَقْتٌ وَلِلْمَوْتِ وَقْتٌ. لِلْغَرْسِ وَقْتٌ ولاِسْتِئْصَالِ الْمَغْرُوسِ وَقْتٌ.

A time of birth, and a time of death. A time of planting, and a time of harvest.

٣ 3 لِلْقَتْلِ وَقْتٌ وَلِلْعِلاجِ وَقْتٌ. لِلْهَدْمِ وَقْتٌ وَلِلْبِنَاءِ وَقْتٌ.

A time of killing, and a time of healing. A time of tearing down, and a time of building up.

٤ 4 لِلْبُكَاءِ وَقْتٌ وَلِلضَّحِكِ وَقْتٌ. لِلنَّوْحِ وَقْتٌ وَلِلرَّقْصِ وَقْتٌ.

A time of crying, and a time of laughing. A time of mourning, and a time of dancing.

٥ 5 لِبَعْثَرَةِ الْحِجَارَةِ وَقْتٌ وَلِتَكْوِيمِهَا وَقْتٌ. لِلْمُعَانَقَةِ وَقْتٌ وَلِلْكَفِّ عَنْهَا وَقْتٌ.

A time of throwing away stones, and a time of gathering up stones. A time of embracing, and a time of avoiding embracing.

٦ 6 لِلسَّعْيِ وَقْتٌ، وَلِلْخَسَارَةِ وَقْتٌ. لِلصِّيَانَةِ وَقْتٌ وَلِلْبَعْثَرَةِ وَقْتٌ.

A time of searching, and a time of giving up searching. A time of keeping, and a time of throwing away.

٧ 7 لِلتَّمْزِيقِ وَقْتٌ وَلِلْخِيَاطَةِ وَقْتٌ. لِلصَّمْتِ وَقْتٌ وَلِلإِفْصَاحِ وَقْتٌ.

A time of tearing, and a time of mending. A time of keeping quiet, a time of speaking up.

٨ 8 لِلْحُبِّ وَقْتٌ وَلِلْبَغْضَاءِ وَقْتٌ. لِلْحَرْبِ وَقْتٌ وَلِلسَّلامِ وَقْتٌ.

A time of loving, and a time of hating. A time of warfare, and a time of peace.

٩ 9 فَأَيُّ نَفْعٍ يَجْنِيهِ الْعَامِلُ مِنْ كَدِّهِ؟

So what do you get for all your hard work?

١٠ 10 لَقَدْ رَأَيْتُ الْمَشَقَّةَ الَّتِي حَمَّلَهَا اللهُ لأَبْنَاءِ النَّاسِ لِيَقُومُوا بِها.

I have examined what God gives us to do.

١١ 11 إِذْ صَنَعَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ حَسَناً فِي حِينِهِ وَغَرَسَ الأَبَدِيَّةَ فِي قُلُوبِ الْبَشَرِ، وَمَعَ ذَلِكَ لَمْ يُدْرِكُوا أَعْمَالَ اللهِ مِنَ الْبَدَايَةِ إِلَى النِّهَايَةِ.

Everything God does is beautifully timed, and even though he has also placed the idea of eternity in our minds, we can't fully understand what God does from beginning to end.

١٢ 12 فَأَيْقَنْتُ أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ أَفْضَلَ لَهُمْ مِنْ أَنْ يَفْرَحُوا وَيُمَتِّعُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَهُمْ مَازَالُوا عَلَى قَيْدِ الْحَيَاةِ.

I concluded that there's nothing better than being happy and looking for the good in life.

١٣ 13 إِنَّ مِنْ نِعَمِ اللهِ عَلَى الإِنْسَانِ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ وَيَشْرَبَ وَيَسْتَمْتِعَ بِمَا يَجْنِيهِ مِنْ كَدِّهِ.

In addition everyone should eat and drink and enjoy their work—this is God's gift to us.

١٤ 14 وَعَلِمْتُ أَنَّ كُلَّ مَا يَفْعَلُهُ اللهُ يَخْلُدُ إِلَى الأَبَدِ، لَا يُضَافُ عَلَيْهِ شَيْءٌ أَوْ يُنْقَصُ مِنْهُ. وَقَدْ أَجْرَاهُ اللهُ لِيَتَّقِيَهُ النَّاسُ.

I also concluded that everything God does lasts forever: nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. God acts in this way so that people may stand in awe of him.

١٥ 15 فَمَا كَانَ قَبْلاً هُوَ كَائِنٌ الآنَ، وَمَا سَيَكُونُ هُوَ كَائِنٌ مِنْ قَبْلُ. وَاللهُ يُطَالِبُ بِمَا قَدْ مَضَى.

Whatever was, is; and whatever will be, has been, and God examines the whole of time.

١٦ 16 وَرَأَيْتُ أَيْضاً تَحْتَ الشَّمْسِ: الْجَوْرَ فِي مَوْضِعِ الْعَدْلِ، وَالظُّلْمَ فِي مَوْضِعِ الْحَقِّ.

I also observed that here on earth there was evil even in the place where there was supposed to be justice; even where things were meant to be right, there was evil.

١٧ 17 فَقُلْتُ فِي نَفْسِي: إِنَّ اللهَ سَيَحْكُمُ عَلَى الصِّدِّيقِ وَعَلَى الشِّرِّيرِ، لأَنَّ لِكُلِّ عَمَلٍ وَلِكُلِّ أَمْرٍ وَقْتاً هُنَاكَ.

But then I thought to myself, “Ultimately God will judge both those who do right and those who do wrong, and every deed and action, at the appointed time.”

١٨ 18 وَنَاجَيْتُ قَلْبِي أَيْضاً بِشَأْنِ أَبْنَاءِ الْبَشَرِ قَائِلاً: إِنَّمَا اللهُ يَمْتَحِنُهُمْ، لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمْ أَنَّهُمْ لَيْسُوا أَفْضَلَ مِنَ الْبَهَائِمِ،

I also thought to myself, “Regarding what happens to human beings—God proves to us that we're no better than animals.”

١٩ 19 لأَنَّ مَا يَحُلُّ بِأَبْنَاءِ الْبَشَرِ يَحُلُّ بِالْبَهَائِمِ. فَكَمَا يَمُوتُ الْوَاحِدُ مِنَ النَّاسِ يَمُوتُ الآخَرُ مِنَ الْبَهَائِمِ، فَلِكِلَيْهِمَا نَسَمَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ، وَلَيْسَ لِلإِنْسَانِ فَضْلٌ عَلَى الْبَهِيمَةِ، فَكُلُّ شَيْءٍ بَاطِلٌ.

For what happens to human beings is the same as what happens to animals—in the same way one dies, the other dies too. They all have the breath of life—so regarding any advantage human beings have over animals, there is none. Definitely this is very hard to understand!

٢٠ 20 كِلاهُمَا يَذْهَبُ إِلَى مَوْضِعٍ وَاحِدٍ. كِلاهُمَا مِنَ التُّرَابِ، وَإِلَيْهِ يَعُودَانِ.

They all end up in the same place—they all came from dust, and they all return to dust.

٢١ 21 فَمَنْ يَعْرِفُ أَنَّ رُوحَ الإِنْسَانِ تَصْعَدُ إِلَى الْعَلاءِ، وَرُوحَ الْحَيَوَانِ تَهْبِطُ إِلَى أَسْفَلِ الأَرْضِ؟

Who really knows whether the breath of life of human beings goes up above, and the breath of life of animals goes down below to the earth?

٢٢ 22 فَرَأَيْتُ أَنَّهُ لَيْسَ أَفْضَلَ مِنْ أَنْ يَسْتَمْتِعَ الإِنْسَانُ بِكَدِّهِ، لأَنَّ هَذَا نَصِيبُهُ، لأَنَّهُ مَنْ يُرْجِعُهُ لِيَرَى مَا سَيَجْرِي مِنْ بَعْدِهِ؟

So I concluded that there's nothing better than for people to enjoy their work. This is what we are meant to do. For who can bring anyone back from the dead to show them what will happen after they die?