Ecclesiastes 3

1 To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:

To all things there is a time, and a season for every matter under heaven.

2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time of birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what has been planted;

3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build,

a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to pull down, and a time to build up;

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

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

a time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to abstain from embracing;

6 a time to search and a time to count as lost, a time to keep and a time to discard,

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 mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to rend, 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.

a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

9 What does the worker gain from his toil?

What advantage [has] he that works in those things wherein he labors?

10 I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.

I have seen all the trouble, which God has given to the sons of men to be troubled with.

11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.

All the things which he has made are beautiful in his time: he has also set the whole world in their heart, that man might not find out the work which God has wrought from the beginning even to the end.

12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,

I know that there is no good in them, except [for a man] to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

13 and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

Also [in the case of] every man who shall eat and drink, and see good in all his labor, [this] is a gift of God.

14 I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.

I know that whatever things God has done, they shall be for ever: it is impossible to add to it, and it is impossible to take away from it: and God has done [it], that [men] may fear before him.

15 What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.

That which has been is now; and whatever things [are appointed] to be have already been; and God will seek out that which is past.

16 Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, there was the ungodly one; and the place of righteousness, there was the godly one.

17 I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

And I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the ungodly: for there is a time there for every action and for every work.

18 I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”

I said in my heart, concerning the speech of the sons of man, God will judge them, and that to show that they are breasts.

19 For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.

Also to them is the event of the sons of man, and the event of the brute; one event befalls them: as is the death of the one, so also the death of the other; and there is one breath to all: and what has the man more than the brute? nothing; for all is vanity.

20 All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

All [go] to one place; all were formed of the dust, and all will return to dust.

21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth?

And who has seen the spirit of the sons of man, whether it goes upward? and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?

22 I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?

And I saw that there was no good, but that wherein a man shall rejoice in his works, for it is his portion, for who shall bring him to see any thing of that which shall be after him?