Ecclesiastes 3

New International Version

A Time for Everything

3 There is a time^(A) for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:

²    a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,^(B)
³    a time to kill^(C) 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,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
⁵    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
⁶    a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
⁷    a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent^(D) and a time to speak,
⁸    a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

⁹What do workers gain from their toil?^(E) ¹⁰I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.^(F) ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time.^(G) He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet^[a] no one can fathom^(H) what God has done from beginning to end.^(I) ¹²I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. ¹³That each of them may eat and drink,^(J) and find satisfaction^(K) in all their toil—this is the gift of God.^(L) ¹⁴I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.^(M)

¹⁵Whatever is has already been,^(N)
and what will be has been before;^(O)
and God will call the past to account.^[b]

¹⁶And I saw something else under the sun:

In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

¹⁷I said to myself,

“God will bring into judgment^(P)
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time to judge every deed.”^(Q)

¹⁸I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.^(R) ¹⁹Surely the fate of human beings^(S) is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath^[c]; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. ²⁰All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.^(T) ²¹Who knows if the human spirit rises upward^(U) and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?”

²²So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work,^(V) because that is their lot.^(W) For who can bring them to see what will happen after them?

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 3:11 Or also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that
Ecclesiastes 3:15 Or God calls back the past
Ecclesiastes 3:19 Or spirit

Song of Songs 8

New International Version

8 If only you were to me like a brother,
    who was nursed at my mother’s breasts!
Then, if I found you outside,
    I would kiss you,
    and no one would despise me.
²I would lead you
    and bring you to my mother’s house^(A)—
    she who has taught me.
I would give you spiced wine to drink,
    the nectar of my pomegranates.
³His left arm is under my head
    and his right arm embraces me.^(B)
⁴Daughters of Jerusalem, I charge you:
    Do not arouse or awaken love
    until it so desires.^(C)

Friends

⁵Who is this coming up from the wilderness^(D)
leaning on her beloved?

She

Under the apple tree I roused you;
    there your mother conceived^(E) you,
    there she who was in labor gave you birth.
⁶Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love^(F) is as strong as death,
    its jealousy^[a]^(G) unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame.^[b]
⁷Many waters cannot quench love;
    rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
    all the wealth of one’s house for love,
    it^[c] would be utterly scorned.^(H)

She

¹⁰I am a wall,
    and my breasts are like towers.
Thus I have become in his eyes
    like one bringing contentment.
¹¹Solomon had a vineyard^(I) in Baal Hamon;
    he let out his vineyard to tenants.
Each was to bring for its fruit
    a thousand shekels^[d]^(J) of silver.
¹²But my own vineyard^(K) is mine to give;
    the thousand shekels are for you, Solomon,
    and two hundred^[e] are for those who tend its fruit.

He

¹³You who dwell in the gardens
with friends in attendance,
let me hear your voice!

She

¹⁴Come away, my beloved,
and be like a gazelle^(L)
or like a young stag^(M)
on the spice-laden mountains.^(N)

Footnotes

Song of Songs 8:6 Or ardor
Song of Songs 8:6 Or fire, / like the very flame of the Lord
Song of Songs 8:7 Or he
Song of Songs 8:11 That is, about 25 pounds or about 12 kilograms; also in verse 12
Song of Songs 8:12 That is, about 5 pounds or about 2.3 kilograms