Ecclesiastes 3:1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 3
No One Can Determine the Right Time to Act
1 [a]There is an appointed time for everything,
and a time for every affair under the heavens.
Footnotes
- 3:1–8 The fourteen pairs of opposites describe various human activities. The poem affirms that God has determined the appropriate moment or “time” for each. Human beings cannot know that moment; further, the wider course of events and purposes fixed by God are beyond them as well.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
11 (A)God has made everything appropriate to its time, but has put the timeless[a] into their hearts so they cannot find out, from beginning to end, the work which God has done.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 3:11 The timeless: others translate “eternity,” “the world,” or “darkness.” The author credits God with keeping human beings ignorant about God’s “work”—present and future.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.