Ecclesiastes 3

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

All things have their time, and all things under heaven continue during their interval.

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

A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pull up what was planted.

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

A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to tear down, and a time to build up.

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

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 together; a time to embrace, and a time to abstain from embracing;

A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.

6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to gain, 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 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 of war, and a time of peace.

A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace.

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

What more does a man have from his labor?

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

I have seen the affliction that God has given to the sons of men, in order that they may be occupied by it.

11 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.

He has made all things good in their time, and he has handed over the world to their disputes, so that man may not discover the work which God made from the beginning, even until the end.

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

And I realize that there is nothing better than to rejoice, and to do well in this life.

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

For this is a gift from God: when each man eats and drinks, and sees the good results of his labor.

14 I know that whatsoever 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.

I have learned that all the works which God has made continue on, in perpetuity. We are not able to add anything, nor to take anything away, from those things which God has made in order that he may be feared.

15 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.

What has been made, the same continues. What is in the future, has already existed. And God restores what has passed away.

16 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.

I saw under the sun: instead of judgment, impiety, and instead of justice, iniquity.

17 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.

And I said in my heart: “God will judge the just and the impious, and then the time for each matter shall be.”

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

I said in my heart, about the sons of men, that God would test them, and reveal them to be like wild animals.

19 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.

For this reason, the passing away of man and of beasts is one, and the condition of both is equal. For as a man dies, so also do they die. All things breathe similarly, and man has nothing more than beast; for all these are subject to vanity.

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

And all things continue on to one place; for from the earth they were made, and unto the earth they shall return together.

21 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?

Who knows if the spirit of the sons of Adam ascend upward, and if the spirit of the beasts descend downward?

22 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?

And I have discovered nothing to be better than for a man to rejoice in his work: for this is his portion. And who shall add to him, so that he may know the things that will occur after him?