Ecclesiastes 3

Translated from the Hebrew of the Westminster Leningrad Codex. Tap a verse to see why it reads as it does. Tap a small letter to read its footnote.

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A time for everything

¹There is a set time for everything, \q a time for every matter under the heavens:

²a time to give birth, a time to die, \q a time to plant, a time to root up what was planted, ³a time to kill, a time to heal, \q a time to pull down, a time to build up, ⁴a time to cry, a time to laugh, \q a time to lament, a time to dance, ⁵a time to scatter stones, a time to gather stones, \q a time to embrace, a time to hold back from embracing, ⁶a time to search, a time to give up as lost, \q a time to keep, a time to throw away, ⁷a time to tear, a time to stitch together, \q a time to stay silent, a time to speak, ⁸a time to love, a time to hate, \q a time for war, a time for peace.

The task God has given

⁹What do workers gain from all their hard work? ¹⁰I have seen the task God has given human beings to keep them busy. ¹¹God has made everything fitting in its own time. He has also put a sense of eternity in their hearts, but people still cannot discover the work God has done from start to finish. ¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to be glad and to do good as long as they live. ¹³And also, when anyone eats and drinks and finds enjoyment in all their hard work, it is God’s gift. ¹⁴I know that whatever God does lasts forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God has done this so that people will fear him. ¹⁵Whatever is has already been, and whatever will be has already been; and God seeks out what has gone by. ¹⁶I saw something else under the sun: in the place of justice there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there was wickedness. ¹⁷I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked, since every matter has its time, and every deed its time there.” ¹⁸I said to myself about human beings, “God is testing them, to show them that they are only animals.” ¹⁹For what happens to human beings and what happens to animals is the same: one fate comes to them both. As one dies, so does the other. All of them have the same spirit, and humans have no advantage over animals, for everything is a breath. ²⁰Everything goes to the same place: all came from the dust, and all go back to the dust. ²¹Who knows whether the human spirit rises upward and the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth? ²²So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to rejoice in their work, for that is their share. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?