Ecclesiastes 3

1 Everything has its own time—a time for all that happens here:

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

2 A time of birth, and a time of death. A time of planting, and a time of harvest.

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

3 A time of killing, and a time of healing. A time of tearing down, and a time of building 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 of crying, and a time of laughing. A time of mourning, and a time of dancing.

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

5 A time of throwing away stones, and a time of gathering up stones. A time of embracing, and a time of avoiding embracing.

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 of searching, and a time of giving up searching. A time of keeping, and a time of throwing away.

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

7 A time of tearing, and a time of mending. A time of keeping quiet, a time of speaking up.

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

8 A time of loving, and a time of hating. A time of warfare, and a time of peace.

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

9 So what do you get for all your hard work?

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

10 I have examined what God gives us to do.

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

11 Everything God does is beautifully timed, and even though he has also placed the idea of eternity in our minds, we can't fully understand what God does from beginning to 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 I concluded that there's nothing better than being happy and looking for the good in 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 In addition everyone should eat and drink and enjoy their work—this is God's gift to us.

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

14 I also concluded that everything God does lasts forever: nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. God acts in this way so that people may stand in awe of him.

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 Whatever was, is; and whatever will be, has been, and God examines the whole of time.

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

16 I also observed that here on earth there was evil even in the place where there was supposed to be justice; even where things were meant to be right, there was evil.

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 But then I thought to myself, “Ultimately God will judge both those who do right and those who do wrong, and every deed and action, at the appointed time.”

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 also thought to myself, “Regarding what happens to human beings—God proves to us that we're no better than 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 what happens to human beings is the same as what happens to animals—in the same way one dies, the other dies too. They all have the breath of life—so regarding any advantage human beings have over animals, there is none. Definitely this is very hard to understand!

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 They all end up in the same place—they all came from dust, and they all return to dust.

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

21 Who really knows whether the breath of life of human beings goes up above, and the breath of life of animals goes down below to the earth?

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 So I concluded that there's nothing better than for people to enjoy their work. This is what we are meant to do. For who can bring anyone back from the dead to show them what will happen after they die?

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?