Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

Amplified Bible

A Time for Everything

3 There is a season (a time appointed) for everything and a time for every delight and event or purpose under heaven—

²
A time to be born and a time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.^(A)
³
A time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴
A time to weep and a time to laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to dance.
⁵
A time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing.
⁶
A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷
A time to ^[a]tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to keep silent and a time to speak.^(B)
⁸
A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.^(C)

⁹What profit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰I have seen the task which God has given to the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

¹¹He has made everything beautiful and appropriate in its time. He has also planted eternity [a sense of divine purpose] in the human heart [a mysterious longing which nothing under the sun can satisfy, except God]—yet man cannot find out (comprehend, grasp) what God has done (His overall plan) from the beginning to the end.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 3:7 This may be a reference to the practice of tearing one’s clothes as a sign of mourning which began early among the Hebrews. Cf Gen 37:29. There are many references to this in the Old Testament. Solomon was no doubt familiar with this practice as his own father engaged in it with his contemporaries. Cf 2 Sam 3:31.