Ecclesiastes 3
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
There is a time to be born, and there is a time to die. There is a time to plant [seeds], and there is a time to harvest crops.
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
There is a time to kill [people], and there is a time to heal [people]. There is a time to tear things down, and there is a time to build things.
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
There is a time to cry, and there is a time to laugh. There is a time to mourn, and there is a time to dance [joyfully].
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;
There is a time to throw away stones [from a field], and there is a time to gather stones [to build walls/houses]. There is a time to embrace [people], and there is a time to not embrace [people].
6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
There is a time to search for things, and there is a time to stop searching for things. There is a time to keep/save things, and there is a time to throw things away.
7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
There is a time to tear [our old clothes], and there is a time to mend [clothes]. There is a time to say nothing, and there is a time when we should speak.
8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
There is a time when we should love [things that people do], and there is a time when we should hate [things that people do]. There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.
9 What profit has he who works in that in which he labors?
(What do people gain from all the work that they do?/It seems that people gain very little from all the work that they do [RHQ]).
10 I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.
I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.
God has appointed a time that is right/correct for everything to happen. He has [also] caused people to realize that there are things that will endure forever. But in spite of that, no one can completely understand everything that God has done, from the time that he starts doing things until he finishes them.
12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live.
I know that the best [LIT] thing for us people to do is to rejoice and to do good things [all] during the time that we are alive.
13 Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God.
And I also know that everyone should eat and drink, and enjoy the work that they do. Those are things that God gives to us.
14 I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him.
I [also] know that what God does endures forever. No one can add to what God does, and no one can take away from the things that God does. God does those things in order that people would revere him.
15 That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago. God seeks again that which is passed away.
Things that exist now have already existed previously, and things that will happen in the future have already happened previously; God causes the same things to happen many times.
16 Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.
Furthermore, I saw that on this earth [MTY], even in the courts where we expect judges to make right decisions about what people had done, they did many wicked [DOU] things.
17 I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”
[So] I said to myself [SYN], “God will judge [both] righteous [people] and wicked [people]; there is a time [for him to do that], because there is a time for him to do everything.”
18 I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals.
And regarding humans, I [also] said to myself, “God is testing us, to show us that [in one way] people are no different than animals,
19 For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.
because what happens to people happens to animals. Animals die, and people die. We all must breathe [to remain alive]. [With regard to that], people have no advantage over animals, so I have a difficult time understanding that.
20 All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
[People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.
21 Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, whether it goes downward to the earth?”
No one knows [RHQ] for sure that when we die, our souls/spirits go up to heaven and the souls/spirits of animals go down to the place where the dead are.”
22 Therefore I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion; for who can bring him to see what will be after him?
So I concluded that the best thing for [us] people to do is to be happy about the work that we do, because that is what God has given to us. I say that because no one of us [RHQ] knows what happens to us after we die.
