Ecclesiastes 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6 A time to gain, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away.

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

7 A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to be silent, and a time to speak.

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

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

A time for love and a time for hate; a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What more does a man have from his labor?

What profit has the worker in the work which he does?

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

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

11 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.

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.

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

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

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

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

14 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.

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

19 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.

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.

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

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

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

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?

22 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?

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?