Ecclesiastes 3
1 To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens:
There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
There is a time to be born, and there is a time to die. There is a time to plant [seeds], and there is a time to harvest crops.
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up;
There is a time to kill [people], and there is a time to heal [people]. There is a time to tear things down, and there is a time to build things.
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance;
There is a time to cry, and there is a time to laugh. There is a time to mourn, and there is a time to dance [joyfully].
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;
There is a time to throw away stones [from a field], and there is a time to gather stones [to build walls/houses]. There is a time to embrace [people], and there is a time to not embrace [people].
6 A time to seek, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
There is a time to search for things, and there is a time to stop searching for things. There is a time to keep/save things, and there is a time to throw things away.
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; A time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
There is a time to tear [our old clothes], and there is a time to mend [clothes]. There is a time to say nothing, and there is a time when we should speak.
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace.
There is a time when we should love [things that people do], and there is a time when we should hate [things that people do]. There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.
9 What profit hath he that worketh from that wherein he laboureth?
(What do people gain from all the work that they do?/It seems that people gain very little from all the work that they do [RHQ]).
10 I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of men to toil in.
I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
11 He hath made everything beautiful in its time; also he hath set the world in their heart, so that man findeth not out from the beginning to the end the work that God doeth.
God has appointed a time that is right/correct for everything to happen. He has [also] caused people to realize that there are things that will endure forever. But in spite of that, no one can completely understand everything that God has done, from the time that he starts doing things until he finishes them.
12 I know that there is nothing good for them but to rejoice and to do well in their life;
I know that the best [LIT] thing for us people to do is to rejoice and to do good things [all] during the time that we are alive.
13 yea also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labour, it is the gift of God.
And I also know that everyone should eat and drink, and enjoy the work that they do. Those are things that God gives to us.
14 I know that whatever God doeth, it shall be for ever; there is nothing to be added to it, nor anything to be taken from it; and God doeth [it], that [men] should fear before him.
I [also] know that what God does endures forever. No one can add to what God does, and no one can take away from the things that God does. God does those things in order that people would revere him.
15 That which is was long ago, and that which is to be hath already been; and God bringeth back again that which is past.
Things that exist now have already existed previously, and things that will happen in the future have already happened previously; God causes the same things to happen many times.
16 And moreover I saw under the sun, that in the place of judgment, wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there.
Furthermore, I saw that on this earth [MTY], even in the courts where we expect judges to make right decisions about what people had done, they did many wicked [DOU] things.
17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
[So] I said to myself [SYN], “God will judge [both] righteous [people] and wicked [people]; there is a time [for him to do that], because there is a time for him to do everything.”
18 I said in my heart, It is thus with the children of men, that God may prove them, and that they should see that they themselves are but beasts.
And regarding humans, I [also] said to myself, “God is testing us, to show us that [in one way] people are no different than animals,
19 For what befalleth the children of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other, and they have all one breath; and man hath no pre-eminence above the beast: for all is vanity.
because what happens to people happens to animals. Animals die, and people die. We all must breathe [to remain alive]. [With regard to that], people have no advantage over animals, so I have a difficult time understanding that.
20 All go unto one place: all are of the dust, and all return to dust.
[People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.
21 Who knoweth the spirit of the children of men? Doth it go upwards? and the spirit of the beasts, doth it go downwards to the earth?
No one knows [RHQ] for sure that when we die, our souls/spirits go up to heaven and the souls/spirits of animals go down to the place where the dead are.”
22 And I have seen that there is nothing better than that man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion; for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
So I concluded that the best thing for [us] people to do is to be happy about the work that we do, because that is what God has given to us. I say that because no one of us [RHQ] knows what happens to us after we die.
