Ecclesiastes 3
3
There Is a Time for Everything
1There is a right time for everything.
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
9Does a person really gain anything from his work? 10I saw the hard work God has given us to do. 11God has also given us a desire to know the future. God certainly does everything at just the right time. But we can never completely understand what he is doing. 12So I realize that the best thing for people is to be happy. They should enjoy themselves as long as they live. 13God wants everyone to eat and drink and be happy in his work. These are gifts from God. 14I know anything 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 cause people to honor him.
15What happens now has also happened in the past.
Things that will happen in the future have also happened before.
God makes the same things happen again and again.
God Allows Unfairness
16I also saw this here on earth:
Where there should have been justice, there was evil.
Where there should have been fairness, there was wickedness.
17I certainly believe that
God has planned a time for every thing and every action.
He will judge both good people and bad people.
18But I decided that God leaves it the way it is to test people. He wants 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. The lives of both are soon gone. 20Both end up the same way. Both came from dust. And both will go back to dust. 21Who can be sure that the spirit of man goes up to God? Or who can be sure that the spirit of an animal goes down into the ground? 22So I saw the best thing a person can do is to enjoy his work. That is all he has. No one can help a person see what will happen in the future.
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Ecclesiastes 3
3
1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
2 a time to be born,
and a time to die;
a time to plant,
and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 a time to kill,
and a time to heal;
a time to break down,
and a time to build up;
4 a time to weep,
and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn,
and a time to dance;
5 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 a time to seek,
and a time to lose;
a time to keep,
and a time to cast away;
7 a time to tear,
and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence,
and a time to speak;
8 a time to love,
and a time to hate;
a time for war,
and a time for peace.
9 What profit has he who works in that in which he labours? 10I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end. 12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live. 13Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labour, is the gift of God. 14I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him. 15That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago. God seeks again that which is passed away.
16 Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. 17I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” 18I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals. 19For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity. 20All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. 21Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, whether it goes downward to the earth?”
22 Therefore I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion; for who can bring him to see what will be after him?
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