Ecclesiastes 3

1 To all things there is a time, and a season for every matter under heaven.

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

2 A time of birth, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what has been planted;

A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.

3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to pull down, and a time to build up;

A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time to build.

4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to lament, and a time to dance;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

5 a time to throw stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to abstain from embracing;

A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.

6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to get, and a time to lose. 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 keep silence, and a time to speak.

8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace.

9 What advantage [has] he that works in those things wherein he labors?

What hath man more of his labour?

10 I have seen all the trouble, which God has given to the sons of men to be troubled with.

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

11 All the things which he has made are beautiful in his time: he has also set the whole world in their heart, that man might not find out the work which God has wrought from the beginning even to the end.

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.

12 I know that there is no good in them, except [for a man] to rejoice, and to do good in his life.

And I have known that there was no better thing than to rejoice, and to do well in this life.

13 Also [in the case of] every man who shall eat and drink, and see good in all his labor, [this] is a gift of God.

For every man that eateth and drinketh, and seeth good of his labour, this is the gift of God.

14 I know that whatever things God has done, they shall be for ever: it is impossible to add to it, and it is impossible to take away from it: and God has done [it], that [men] may fear before him.

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.

15 That which has been is now; and whatever things [are appointed] to be have already been; and God will seek out that which is past.

That which hath been made, the same continueth: the things that shall be, have already been: and God restoreth that which is past.

16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, there was the ungodly one; and the place of righteousness, there was the godly one.

I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity.

17 And I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the ungodly: for there is a time there for every action and for every work.

And I said in my heart: God shall judge both the just and the wicked, and then shall be the time of every thing.

18 I said in my heart, concerning the speech of the sons of man, God will judge them, and that to show that they are breasts.

I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would prove them, and shew them to be like beasts.

19 Also to them is the event of the sons of man, and the event of the brute; one event befalls them: as is the death of the one, so also the death of the other; and there is one breath to all: and what has the man more than the brute? nothing; for all is vanity.

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.

20 All [go] to one place; all were formed of the dust, and all will return to dust.

And all things go to one place: of earth they were made, and into earth they return together.

21 And who has seen the spirit of the sons of man, whether it goes upward? and the spirit of the beast, whether it goes downward to the earth?

Who knoweth if the spirit of the children of Adam ascend upward, and if the spirit of the beasts descend downward?

22 And I saw that there was no good, but that wherein a man shall rejoice in his works, for it is his portion, for who shall bring him to see any thing of that which shall be after him?

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?