Ecclesiastes 3
3
Everything in God’s Own Time
1Everything has its own time, and there is a specific time for every activity under heaven:
2a time to be born and
a time to die,
a time to plant and
a time to pull out what was planted,
3a time to kill and
a time to heal,
a time to tear down and
a time to build up,
4a time to cry and
a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and
a time to dance,
5a time to scatter stones and
a time to gather them,
a time to hug and
a time to stop hugging,
6a time to start looking and
a time to stop looking,
a time to keep and
a time to throw away,
7a time to tear apart and
a time to sew together,
a time to keep quiet and
a time to speak out,
8a time to love and
a time to hate,
a time for war and
a time for peace.
God Gives Mortals a Sense of Eternity
9What do working people gain from their hard labor? 10I have seen mortals weighed down with a burden that God has placed on them. 11It is beautiful how God has done everything at the right time. He has put a sense of eternity in people’s minds. Yet, mortals still can’t grasp what God is doing from the beginning to the end ⌞of time⌟.
12I realize that there’s nothing better for them to do than to be cheerful and enjoy what is good in their lives. 13It is a gift from God to be able to eat and drink and experience the good that comes from every kind of hard work.
14I realize that whatever God does will last forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken away from it. God does this so that people will fear him.
15Whatever has happened ⌞in the past⌟ is present now. Whatever is going to happen ⌞in the future⌟ has already happened ⌞in the past⌟. God will call the past to account.
Humans and Animals Meet the Same End
16I saw something else under the sun:
There is wickedness where justice should be found.
There is wickedness where righteousness should be found.
17I thought to myself, “God will judge righteous people as well as wicked people, because there is a specific time for every activity and every work that is done.” 18I thought to myself, “God is going to test humans in order to show them that they are ⌞like⌟ animals.” 19Humans and animals have the same destiny. One dies just like the other. All of them have the same breath ⌞of life⌟. Humans have no advantage over animals. All ⌞of life⌟ is pointless. 20All ⌞life⌟ goes to the same place. All ⌞life⌟ comes from the ground, and all of it goes back to the ground. 21Who knows whether a human spirit goes upward or whether an animal spirit goes downward to the earth?
22I saw that there’s nothing better for people to do than to enjoy their work because that is their lot ⌞in life⌟. Who will allow them to see what will happen after them?
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GOD'S WORD® Translation ©1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God's Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.
Ecclesiastes 3
3
A season for everything
1There’s a season for everything
and a time for every matter under the heavens:
2a time for giving birth and a time for dying,
a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted,
3a time for killing and a time for healing,
a time for tearing down and a time for building up,
4a time for crying and a time for laughing,
a time for mourning and a time for dancing,
5a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,
a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces,
6a time for searching and a time for losing,
a time for keeping and a time for throwing away,
7a time for tearing and a time for repairing,
a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking,
8a time for loving and a time for hating,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Hard work
9What do workers gain from all their hard work? 10I have observed the task that God has given human beings. 11God has made everything fitting in its time, but has also placed eternity in their hearts, without enabling them to discover what God has done from beginning to end.
12I know that there’s nothing better for them but to enjoy themselves and do what’s good while they live. 13Moreover, this is the gift of God: that all people should eat, drink, and enjoy the results of their hard work. 14I know that whatever God does will last forever; it’s impossible to add to it or take away from it. God has done this so that people are reverent before him.#3.14 Or to inspire awe before the divine 15Whatever happens has already happened, and whatever will happen has already happened before. And God looks after what is driven away.#3.15 Or God seeks out what is pursued, or God seeks what has gone by, or God seeks the pursued; Heb uncertain
Enjoy what you do now
16I saw something else under the sun: in the place of justice, there was wickedness; and in the place of what was right, there was wickedness again! 17I thought to myself, God will judge both righteous and wicked people, because there’s a time for every matter and every deed. 18I also thought, Where human beings are concerned, God tests them to show them that they are but animals 19because human beings and animals share the same fate. One dies just like the other—both have the same life-breath. Humans are no better off than animals because everything is pointless.
20All go to the same place:
all are from the dust;
all return to the dust.
21Who knows if a human being’s life-breath rises upward while an animal’s life-breath descends into the earth? 22So I perceived that there was nothing better for human beings but to enjoy what they do because that’s what they’re allotted in life. Who, really, is able to see what will happen in the future?
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