Ecclesiastes 3
3
There Is a Time for Everything
1There is a time for everything,
and everything on earth has its special season.
2There is a time to be born
and a time to die.
There is a time to plant
and a time to pull up plants.
3There is a time to kill
and a time to heal.
There is a time to destroy
and a time to build.
4There is a time to cry
and a time to laugh.
There is a time to be sad
and a time to dance.
5There is a time to throw away stones
and a time to gather them.
There is a time to hug
and a time not to hug.
6There is a time to look for something
and a time to stop looking for it.
There is a time to keep things
and a time to throw things away.
7There is a time to tear apart
and a time to sew together.
There is a time to be silent
and a time to speak.
8There is a time to love
and a time to hate.
There is a time for war
and a time for peace.
God Controls His World
9Do people really gain anything from their work? 10I saw the hard work God has given people to do. 11God has given them a desire to know the future. He does everything just right and on time, but people can never completely understand what he is doing. 12So I realize that the best thing for them is to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. 13God wants all people to eat and drink and be happy in their work, which are gifts from God. 14I know that everything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to what God has done, and they cannot take anything away from it. God does it this way to make people respect him.
15What happens now has happened in the past,
and what will happen in the future has happened before.
God makes the same things happen again and again.
Unfairness on Earth
16I also saw this here on earth:
Where there should have been justice, there was evil;
where there should have been right, there was wrong.
17I said to myself,
God has planned a time for every thing and every action,
so he will judge both good people and bad.
18I decided that God leaves it the way it is to test people and to show them they are just like animals. 19The same thing happens to animals and to people; they both have the same breath, so they both die. People are no better off than the animals, because everything is useless. 20Both end up the same way; both came from dust and both will go back to dust. 21Who can be sure that the human spirit goes up to God and that the spirit of an animal goes down into the ground? 22So I saw that the best thing people can do is to enjoy their work, because that is all they have. No one can help another person see what will happen in the future.
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Ecclesiastes 3: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Ecclesiastes 3
3
A Time For Everything
1For everything there is a season and a time for every activity under heaven:
2a time to give birth and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted;
3a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear 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 scatter stones and a time to gather stones, 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 discard;
7a time to tear apart and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak;
8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9What gain, then, does the laborer get with his toil?
10I have seen the task that God has given to the children of men to keep them occupied.
Yet Eternity In Their Heart
11He has made everything beautiful in its time. Moreover, He has set eternity in their heart—yet without the possibility that humankind can ever discover the work that God has done from the beginning to the end.
12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy themselves in their lifetime.
13Also when anyone eats and drinks, and finds satisfaction in all of his labor, it is the gift of God.
14I know that everything that God does will endure forever. There is no adding to it or taking from it. God has made it so, that they will revere Him.
15Whatever exists, has already been and whatever will be, has already been, but God recalls what has passed.
16I have also seen under the sun: In the place of justice there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there was wickedness.
17I said in my heart: “The righteous and the wicked, God will judge. For there is a time for every activity and for every deed.”
Humans Same As Beasts?
18I also said in my heart, “As for the sons of man, God tests them so that they may see that they are but animals.”
19For the destiny of humankind and the destiny of animals are one and the same. As one dies, so dies the other. Both have the same breath—a human has no advantage over an animal—both are fleeting.
20Both go to one place. Both were taken from the dust, and both return to the dust.
21Who knows that the spirit of the sons of man ascends upward and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?
22So I perceived that nothing is better than for man to enjoy his works, because that is his portion. For who can bring him back to see what will be in the future?
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