Ecclesiastes 3

1 For everything there is a fixed time, and a time for every business under the sun.

To everything—a season, and a time to every delight under the heavens:

2 A time for birth and a time for death; a time for planting and a time for uprooting;

A time to bring forth, And a time to die. A time to plant, And a time to eradicate the planted.

3 A time to put to death and a time to make well; a time for pulling down and a time for building up;

A time to slay, And a time to heal, A time to break down, And a time to build up.

4 A time for weeping and a time for laughing; a time for sorrow and a time for dancing;

A time to weep, And a time to laugh. A time to mourn, And a time to skip.

5 A time to take stones away and a time to get stones together; a time for kissing and a time to keep from kissing;

A time to cast away stones, And a time to heap up stones. A time to embrace, And a time to be far from embracing.

6 A time for search and a time for loss; a time to keep and a time to give away;

A time to seek, And a time to destroy. A time to keep, And a time to cast away.

7 A time for undoing and a time for stitching; a time for keeping quiet and a time for talk;

A time to tear, And a time to sew. A time to be silent, And a time to speak.

8 A time for love and a time for 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 profit has the worker in the work which he does?

What advantage does the doer have in that which he is laboring at?

10 I saw the work which God has put on the sons of man.

I have seen the travail that God has given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.

11 He has made everything right in its time; but he has made their hearts without knowledge, so that man is unable to see the works of God, from the first to the last.

The whole He has made beautiful in its season; also, that knowledge He has put in their heart without which man does not find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end.

12 I am certain that there is nothing better for a man than to be glad, and to do good while life is in him.

I have known that there is no good for them except to rejoice and to do good during their life,

13 And for every man to take food and drink, and have joy in all his work, is a reward from God.

indeed, even every man who eats and has drunk and seen good by all his labor, it [is] a gift of God.

14 I am certain that whatever God does will be for ever. No addition may be made to it, nothing may be taken from it; and God has done it so that man may be in fear before him.

I have known that all that God does is for all time, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God has worked that they fear before Him.

15 Whatever is has been before, and what is to be is now; because God makes search for the things which are past.

What is that which has been? Already it is, and that which [is] to be has already been, and God requires that which is pursued.

16 And again, I saw under the sun, in the place of the judges, that evil was there; and in the place of righteousness, that evil was there.

And again, I have seen under the sun the place of judgment—there [is] the wicked; and the place of righteousness—there [is] the wicked.

17 I said in my heart, God will be judge of the good and of the bad; because a time for every purpose and for every work has been fixed by him.

I said in my heart, “The righteous and the wicked God judges, for a time [is] to every matter and for every work there.”

18 I said in my heart, It is because of the sons of men, so that God may put them to the test and that they may see themselves as beasts.

I said in my heart concerning the matter of the sons of man that God might cleanse them, so as to see that they themselves [are] beasts.

19 Because the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts is the same. As is the death of one so is the death of the other, and all have one spirit. Man is not higher than the beasts; because all is to no purpose.

For an event [is to] the sons of man, and an event [is to] the beasts, even one event [is] to them; as the death of this, so [is] the death of that; and one spirit [is] to all, and the advantage of man above the beast is nothing, for the whole [is] vanity.

20 All go to one place, all are of the dust, and all will be turned to dust again.

The whole are going to one place, the whole have been from the dust, and the whole are turning back to the dust.

21 Who is certain that the spirit of the sons of men goes up to heaven, or that the spirit of the beasts goes down to the earth?

Who knows the spirit of the sons of man that is going up on high, and the spirit of the beast that is going down below to the earth?

22 So I saw that there is nothing better than for a man to have joy in his work — because that is his reward. Who will make him see what will come after him?

And I have seen that there is nothing better than that man rejoice in his works, for it [is] his portion; for who brings him to look on that which is after him?