Ecclesiastes 3
1 To all things there is a time,
and a season for every matter under heaven.
2 A time of birth, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what hath been planted;
3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to pull down, and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to lament, 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;
6 a time to seek, 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;
8 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace.
9 What advantage hath he that worketh in those things wherein he laboureth?
10 I have seen all the trouble, which God hath given to the sons of men to be troubled with. 11 All the things which he hath made are beautiful in his time: he hath also set the whole [1]world in their heart, that man might not find out the work which God hath wrought from the beginning even 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.
13 Also in the case of every man who shall eat and drink, and see good in all his labour, this is a gift of God. 14 I know that whatsoever things God hath done, they shall be for ever: it is impossible to add to it, and it is impossible to take away from it: and God hath done it, that men may fear before him. 15 That which hath been is now; and whatever things are appointed to be have already been; and God will seek out 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. 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.
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 beasts. 19 Also to them is the event of the sons of man, and the event of the brute; one event befalleth them: as is the death of the one, so also the death of the other; and there is one breath to all: and what hath the man more than the brute? nothing; for all is vanity. 20 All go to one place; all were formed of the dust, and all will return to dust. 21 And who hath seen the spirit of the sons of man, whether it goeth upward? and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth? 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 anything of that which shall be after him?
Notes
- 3:11 world: Gr. age ↩