Ecclesiastes 3
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Mystery of Time
3 There is an occasion for everything,
and a time for every activity under heaven:(A)
2 a time to give birth and a time to die;(B)
a time to plant and a time to uproot;[a]
3 a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to tear down and a time to build;
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh;(C)
a time to mourn and a time to dance;(D)
5 a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;(E)
a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing;(F)
6 a time to search and a time to count as lost;
a time to keep and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear and a time to sew;
a time to be silent and a time to speak;(G)
8 a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.(H)
9 What does the worker gain from his struggles?(I) 10 I have seen the task that God has given people to keep them occupied.(J) 11 He has made everything appropriate[b] in its time.(K) He has also put eternity in their hearts,[c] but man cannot discover the work God has done from beginning to end.(L) 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy the[d] good life. 13 It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts.(M) 14 I know that all God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it.(N) God works so that people will be in awe of Him.(O) 15 Whatever is, has already been,(P) and whatever will be, already is. God repeats what has passed.[e]
The Mystery of Injustice and Death
16 I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness.(Q) 17 I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked,(R) since there is a time for every activity and every work.”(S) 18 I said to myself, “This happens concerning people, so that God may test them and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.”(T) 19 For the fate of people and the fate of animals is the same.(U) As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile. 20 All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.(V) 21 Who knows if the spirit of people rises upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities(W) because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?[f](X)
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 3:2 Lit uproot what is planted
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 Or beautiful
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 Or has put a sense of past and future into their minds, or has placed ignorance in their hearts
- Ecclesiastes 3:12 Lit his
- Ecclesiastes 3:15 Or God calls the past to account, or God seeks what is past, or God seeks the persecuted; lit God seeks [the] pursued
- Ecclesiastes 3:22 Lit after him
Ecclesiastes 3
Living Bible
3 There is a right time for everything:
2 A time to be born;
A time to die;
A time to plant;
A time to harvest;
3 A time to kill;
A time to heal;
A time to destroy;
A time to rebuild;
4 A time to cry;
A time to laugh;
A time to grieve;
A time to dance;
5 A time for scattering stones;
A time for gathering stones;
A time to hug;
A time not to hug;
6 A time to find;
A time to lose;
A time for keeping;
A time for throwing away;
7 A time to tear;
A time to repair;
A time to be quiet;
A time to speak up;
8 A time for loving;
A time for hating;
A time for war;
A time for peace.
9 What does one really get from hard work? 10 I have thought about this in connection with all the various kinds of work God has given to mankind. 11 Everything is appropriate in its own time. But though God has planted eternity in the hearts of men, even so, many cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. 12 So I conclude that, first, there is nothing better for a man than to be happy and to enjoy himself as long as he can; 13 and second, that he should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of his labors, for these are gifts from God.
14 And I know this, that whatever God does is final—nothing can be added or taken from it; God’s purpose in this is that man should fear the all-powerful God.[a]
15 Whatever is has been long ago; and whatever is going to be has been before; God brings to pass again what was in the distant past and disappeared.[b]
16 Moreover, I notice that throughout the earth justice is giving way to crime, and even the police courts are corrupt. 17 I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everything man does, both good and bad.”
18 And then I realized that God is letting the world go on its sinful way so that he can test mankind, and so that men themselves will see that they are no better than beasts. 19 For men and animals both breathe the same air, and both die. So mankind has no real advantage over the beasts; what an absurdity! 20 All go to one place—the dust from which they came and to which they must return. 21 For who can prove that the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward into dust? 22 So I saw that there is nothing better for men than that they should be happy in their work, for that is what they are here for, and no one can bring them back to life to enjoy what will be in the future, so let them enjoy it now.
Footnotes
- Ecclesiastes 3:14 God’s purpose in this is that man should fear the all-powerful God, implied.
- Ecclesiastes 3:15 God brings to pass again what was in the distant past and disappeared, literally, “God seeks what has been driven away.”
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