A Time for Everything

3 For everything there is a season, and ^(A)a time for every matter under heaven:

The God-Given Task

⁹ What ^(M)gain has the worker from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen ^(N)the business that ^(O)God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹¹ He has ^(P)made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot ^(Q)find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

Bear One Another's Burdens

6 Brothers,^{[a] (A)}if anyone is caught in any transgression, ^(B)you who are spiritual should restore him in ^(C)a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. ^2 (D)Bear one another's burdens, and ^(E)so fulfill ^(F)the law of Christ. ³ For ^(G)if anyone thinks he is something, ^(H)when he is nothing, he deceives himself. ⁴ But let each one ^(I)test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. ⁵ For ^(J)each will have to bear his own load.

^6 (K)Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. ^7 (L)Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for ^(M)whatever one sows, that will he also reap. ⁸ For ^(N)the one who sows to his own flesh ^(O)will from the flesh reap corruption, but ^(P)the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. ⁹ And ^(Q)let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, ^(R)if we do not give up.

² Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, ^(A)sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. ^3 (B)Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, ^(C)not slanderers ^(D)or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, ⁴ and so train the young women to love their husbands and children,

Remember Your Creator in Your Youth

12 Remember also your Creator in ^(A)the days of your youth, before ^(B)the evil days come and the years draw near of which ^(C)you will say, “I have no pleasure in them”; ² before ^(D)the sun and the light and the moon and the stars are darkened and the clouds return after the rain, ³ in the day when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men are bent, and the grinders cease because they are few, and ^(E)those who look through the windows are dimmed, ⁴ and ^(F)the doors on the street are shut—when ^(G)the sound of the grinding is low, and one rises up at the sound of a bird, and all ^(H)the daughters of song are brought low— ⁵ they are afraid also of what is high, and ^(I)terrors are in the way; the almond tree blossoms, the grasshopper drags itself along,^[a] and desire fails, because man is going to his ^(J)eternal ^(K)home, and the ^(L)mourners go about the streets— ⁶ before the silver cord is snapped, or ^(M)the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is ^(N)shattered at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern, ⁷ and ^(O)the dust returns to the earth as it was, and ^(P)the spirit returns to God ^(Q)who gave it. ^8 (R)Vanity^[b] of vanities, says ^(S)the Preacher; all is vanity.

Fear God and Keep His Commandments

⁹ Besides being wise, ^(T)the Preacher also taught the people knowledge, weighing and studying and arranging ^(U)many proverbs with great care. ^10 (V)The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.

^11 (W)The words of the wise are like goads, and like ^(X)nails firmly fixed are the collected sayings; they are ^(Y)given by ^(Z)one Shepherd. ¹² My son, beware of anything beyond these. Of making ^(AA)many books there is no end, and ^(AB)much study is a weariness of the flesh.

¹³ The end of the matter; all has been heard. ^(AC)Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.^{[c] 14} For ^(AD)God will bring every deed into judgment, with^[d] every secret thing, whether good or evil.

^36 (A)For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

Twelve Memorial Stones from the Jordan

4 When all the nation had finished passing ^(A)over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, ^2 (B)“Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, ³ and command them, saying, ‘Take ^(C)twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place ^(D)where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in ^(E)the place where you lodge tonight.’” ⁴ Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. ⁵ And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, ⁶ that this may be a sign among you. ^(F)When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ ⁷ then you shall tell them that ^(G)the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel ^(H)a memorial forever.”