Ecclesiastes 3

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

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

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

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

A time to slay, And a time to heal, A time to break 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 mourn, And a time to skip.

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

A time to seek, And a time to destroy. 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 of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace.

A time to love, And a time to hate. A time of war, And a time of peace.

9 What more does a man have from his labor?

What advantage hath the doer in that which he is labouring at?

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

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.

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

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

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

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

yea, even every man who eateth and hath drunk and seen good by all his labour, it [is] a gift of 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 have known that all that God doth is to the age, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God hath wrought that they do 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.

What is that which hath been? already it is, and that which [is] to be hath already been, and God requireth that which is pursued.

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

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 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, 'The righteous and the wicked doth God judge, for a time [is] to every matter and for every work there.'

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 concerning the matter of the sons of man that God might cleanse them, so as to see that they themselves [are] 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.

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

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

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

Who knoweth 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 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?

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