Ecclesiastes 3
1 There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.
Alle thingis han tyme, and alle thingis vndur sunne passen bi her spaces.
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.
Tyme of birthe, and time of diyng; tyme to plaunte, and tyme to drawe vp that that is plauntid.
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.
Tyme to sle, and tyme to make hool; tyme to distrie, and tyme to bilde.
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].
Tyme to wepe, and tyme to leiye; tyme to biweile, and tyme to daunse.
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].
Tyme to scatere stoonys, and tyme to gadere togidere; tyme to colle, and tyme to be fer fro collyngis.
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.
Tyme to wynne, and tyme to leese; tyme to kepe, and tyme to caste awei.
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.
Tyme to kitte, and tyme to sewe togidere; tyme to be stille, and tyme to speke.
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.
Tyme of loue, and tyme of hatrede; tyme of batel, and tyme of pees.
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 hath a man more of his trauel?
10 I have seen the work that God has given people to do.
I siy the turment, which God yaf to the sones of men, that thei be occupied therynne.
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.
God made alle thingis good in her tyme, and yaf the world to disputyng of hem, that a man fynde not the werk which God hath wrouyt fro the bigynnyng `til in to the ende.
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.
And Y knew that no thing was betere `to a man, `no but to be glad, and to do good werkis in his lijf.
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.
For whi ech man that etith and drinkith, and seeth good of his trauel; this is the yifte 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 haue lerned that alle werkis, whiche God made, lasten stidfastli `til in to with outen ende; we moun not adde ony thing to tho, nether take awei fro tho thingis, whiche God made, that he be dred.
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.
That thing that is maad, dwellith perfitli; tho thingis that schulen come, weren bifore; and God restorith that, that is goon.
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.
I siy vndur sunne vnfeithfulnesse in the place of doom; and wickidnesse in the place of riytfulnesse.
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.”
And Y seide in myn herte, The Lord schal deme a iust man, and an vnfeithful man; and the tyme of ech thing schal be thanne.
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 seide in myn herte of the sones of men, that God schulde preue hem, and schewe that thei ben lijk vnresonable beestis.
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.
Therfor oon is the perisching of man and of beestis, and euene condicioun is of euer eithir; as a man dieth, `so and tho beestis dien; alle beestis brethen in lijk maner, and a man hath no thing more than a beeste.
20 [People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.
Alle thingis ben suget to vanyte, and alle thingis goen to o place; tho ben maad of erthe, and tho turnen ayen togidere in to erthe.
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 knowith, if the spirit of the sones of Adam stieth vpward, and if the spirit of beestis goith dounward?
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.
And Y perseyuede that no thing is betere, than that a man be glad in his werk, and that this be his part; for who schal brynge hym, that he knowe thingis that schulen come after hym?
