NRSV Ecc 3 Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
3:1
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
3:2
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
3:3
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
3:4
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
3:5
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
3:6
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
3:7
a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
3:8
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
3:9
What gain have the workers from their toil?
3:10
I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.
3:11
He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
3:12
I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live;
3:13
moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
3:14
I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.
3:15
That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by.
3:16
Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well.
3:17
I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work.
3:18
I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals.
3:19
For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity.
3:20
All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.
3:21
Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth?
3:22
So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?