Ecclesiastes 3
1 For, every thing, there is a season, —and a time for every pursuit, 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 uproot what 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 wail, and a time to dance for joy;
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 heap up stones, —A time to embrace, and a time to be far from loving embrace;
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 give up as lost, —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 be silent, 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, in that wherein, himself, hath toiled?
(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 looked at the employment which God hath given to the sons of men, to work therein:
I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
11 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.
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 no blessedness in them, —save to be glad, and to do well with one’s 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 Though indeed, that any man should eat and drink, and see blessedness, in all his toil, 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, 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.
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 was, already, had been, and, that which shall be, already, shall have been, —but, God, seeketh that which hath been chased away.
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 Then, again, I saw under the sun, the place of justice, that there was lawlessness, and, the place of righteousness, that there was lawlessness.
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 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.
[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 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.
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, 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:
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, came from the dust, and all, return to the 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 sons of men, whether it, ascendeth, above, —or the spirit of the beast, whether it, descendeth, below, 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 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?
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.
