Ecclesiastes 3
1 Everything has its own time—a time for all that happens here:
For, every thing, there is a season, —and a time for every pursuit, under the heavens: —
2 A time of birth, and a time of death. A time of planting, and a time of harvest.
A time to be born, and a time to die, —A time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted;
3 A time of killing, and a time of healing. A time of tearing down, and a time of building up.
A time to kill, and a time to heal, —A time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time of crying, and a time of laughing. A time of mourning, and a time of dancing.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh, —A time to wail, and a time to dance for joy;
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 cast away stones, and a time to heap up stones, —A time to embrace, and a time to be far from loving embrace;
6 A time of searching, and a time of giving up searching. A time of keeping, and a time of throwing away.
A time to seek, and a time to give up as lost, —A time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time of tearing, and a time of mending. A time of keeping quiet, a time of speaking up.
A time to rend, and a time to sew, —A time to be silent, and a time to speak;
8 A time of loving, and a time of hating. A time of warfare, and a time of peace.
A time to love and a time to hate, —A time of war, and a time of peace.
9 So what do you get for all your hard work?
What profit hath he that worketh, in that wherein, himself, hath toiled?
10 I have examined what God gives us to do.
I looked at the employment which God hath given to the sons of men, to work therein:
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.
Everything, hath he made beautiful in its own time, —also, intelligence, hath he put in their heart, without which men could not find out the work which God hath wrought, from the beginning even unto the end.
12 I concluded that there's nothing better than being happy and looking for the good in life.
I know that there is no blessedness in them, —save to be glad, and to do well with one’s life.
13 In addition everyone should eat and drink and enjoy their work—this is God's gift to us.
Though indeed, that any man should eat and drink, and see blessedness, in all his toil, it is, the gift of 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 know, that, whatsoever God doeth, the same, shall be age-abiding, unto it, there is nothing to add, and, from it, there is nothing to take away, —and, God, hath done it, that men should stand in awe before him.
15 Whatever was, is; and whatever will be, has been, and God examines the whole of time.
That which was, already, had been, and, that which shall be, already, shall have been, —but, God, seeketh that which hath been chased away.
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.
Then, again, I saw under the sun, the place of justice, that there was lawlessness, and, the place of righteousness, that there was lawlessness.
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.”
Said, I, in my heart, Both the righteous and the lawless, will God judge, —for [there will be] a time for every pursuit, and concerning every work—there.
18 I also thought to myself, “Regarding what happens to human beings—God proves to us that we're no better than animals.”
Said, I, in my heart, as concerning the sons of men, That God was minded to prove them, —and that they might see, that they were beasts, of themselves.
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!
For, as regardeth the destiny of the sons of men and the destiny of beasts, one fate, have they, as dieth the one, so, dieth the other, and, one spirit, have they all, —and, the pre-eminence of man over beast, is nothing, for, all, were vanity:
20 They all end up in the same place—they all came from dust, and they all return to dust.
all, go unto one place, —all, came from the dust, and all, return to the dust.
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 knoweth the spirit of the sons of men, whether it, ascendeth, above, —or the spirit of the beast, whether it, descendeth, below, 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 was nothing better than that a man should be glad in his works, for, that, is his portion, —for who can bring him in, to look upon that which shall be after him?
