Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

1For everything
there is a season,
and a time
for every matter
under heaven:

2a time to be born,
and a time to die;
a time to plant,
and a time
to pluck
up what is planted;

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

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

5a time
to cast away stones,
and a time
to gather stones together;
a time
to embrace,
and a time
to refrain
from embracing;

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

7a time to tear,
and a time
to sew;
a time to keep silence,
and a time
to speak;

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

The God-Given Task

9What gain
has the worker
from his toil?

10I have seen
the business
that God
has given
to the children of man
to be busy with.

11He has made everything
beautiful
in its time.
Also,
he has put eternity
into man's heart,
yet so that
he cannot find out
what God has done
from the beginning
to the end.

12I perceived that
there is nothing
better for them
than to be joyful
and to do good
as long as they live;

13also
that everyone
should eat and
drink and take
pleasure in all his toil
--this is God's gift
to man.

14I perceived
that whatever
God does
endures forever;
nothing can be added to it,
nor anything taken
from it.
God has done it,
so that people
fear before him.

15That which is,
already has been;
that which is to be,
already has been;
and God seeks
what has been driven away.^[a]

From Dust to Dust

16Moreover,
I saw under the sun
that in the place of justice,
even there was wickedness,
and in the place of righteousness,
even there was wickedness.

17I said in my heart,
God will judge the righteous
and the wicked,
for there is a time for every matter
and for every work.

18I said in my heart
with regard
to the children of man
that God
is testing them
that they may see
that they themselves
are but beasts.

19For what happens
to the children of man
and what happens
to the beasts
is the same;
as one dies, so dies the other.
They all have
the same breath,
and man has
no advantage
over the beasts,
for all is vanity.

20All go
to one place.
All are
from the dust,
and to dust
all return.

21Who knows
whether the spirit
of man goes upward
and the spirit of the beast goes
down into the earth?

22So I saw
that there is
nothing better
than that a man
should rejoice
in his work,
for that is his lot.
Who can bring
him to see what
will be after him?