Ecclesiastes 3
1 There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
2 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.
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 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.
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build,
4 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].
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 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].
a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 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.
a time to search and a time to count as lost, a time to keep and a time to discard,
7 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.
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 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.
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9 (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]).
What does the worker gain from his toil?
10 I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.
11 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.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.
12 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.
I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,
13 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.
and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God.
14 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.
I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.
15 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.
What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.
16 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.
Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
17 [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.”
I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
18 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,
I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”
19 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.
For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.
20 [People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.
All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
21 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.”
Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth?
22 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.
I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?
