Ecclesiastes 3:1-14

Everything has its own time—a time for all that happens here: A time of birth, and a time of death. A time of planting, and a time of harvest. A time of killing, and a time of healing. A time of tearing down, and a time of building up. A time of crying, and a time of laughing. A time of mourning, and a time of dancing. A time of throwing away stones, and a time of gathering up stones. A time of embracing, and a time of avoiding embracing. A time of searching, and a time of giving up searching. A time of keeping, and a time of throwing away. A time of tearing, and a time of mending. A time of keeping quiet, a time of speaking up. A time of loving, and a time of hating. A time of warfare, and a time of peace. So what do you get for all your hard work? I have examined what God gives us to do. Everything God does is beautifully timed, and even though he has also placed the idea of eternity in our minds, we can't fully understand what God does from beginning to end. I concluded that there's nothing better than being happy and looking for the good in life. In addition everyone should eat and drink and enjoy their work—this is God's gift to us. I also concluded that everything God does lasts forever: nothing can be added to it or taken away from it. God acts in this way so that people may stand in awe of him.