Ecclesiastes 3

1 All things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven.

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 pluck up that which is 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 destroy, and a time to build.

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 get, 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 keep silence, 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 hath man more of his labour?

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

10 I have seen the trouble, which God hath given the sons of men to be exercised in it.

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

11 He hath made all things good in their time, and hath delivered the world to their consideration, so that man cannot find out the work which God hath made from the beginning to 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 have known that there was no better thing 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 every man that eateth and drinketh, and seeth good of his labour, this is the gift of God.

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 hath made, continue for ever: we cannot add any thing, nor take away from those things which God hath made 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 That which hath been made, the same continueth: the things that shall be, have already been: and God restoreth that which is past.

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 in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place 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 shall judge both the just and the wicked, and then shall be the time of every thing.

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 concerning the sons of men, that God would prove them, and shew them to be like beasts.

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 Therefore the death of man, and of beasts is one, and the condition of them both is equal: as man dieth, so they also die: all things breathe alike, and man hath nothing more than beast: all things 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 go to one place: of earth they were made, and into earth they return together.

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

21 Who knoweth if the spirit of the children 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 found that nothing is better than for a man to rejoice in his work, and that this is his portion. For who shall bring him to know the things that shall be 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?