Ecclesiastes 3:1-13

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)

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Footnotes

Ecclesiastes 3:11 Or also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that

Psalm 8

New International Version

Psalm 8^[a]

For the director of music. According to gittith.^[b] A psalm of David.

¹Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name^(A) in all the earth!

You have set your glory^(B)
    in the heavens.^(C)
²Through the praise of children and infants
    you have established a stronghold^(D) against your enemies,
    to silence the foe^(E) and the avenger.
³When I consider your heavens,^(F)
    the work of your fingers,^(G)
the moon and the stars,^(H)
    which you have set in place,
⁴what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
    human beings that you care for them?^[c]^(I)

⁵You have made them^[d] a little lower than the angels^[e]^(J)
    and crowned them^[f] with glory and honor.^(K)
⁶You made them rulers^(L) over the works of your hands;^(M)
    you put everything under their^[g] feet:^(N)
⁷all flocks and herds,^(O)
    and the animals of the wild,^(P)
⁸the birds in the sky,
    and the fish in the sea,^(Q)
    all that swim the paths of the seas.

⁹Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!^(R)

Footnotes

Psalm 8:1 In Hebrew texts 8:1-9 is numbered 8:2-10.
Psalm 8:1 Title: Probably a musical term
Psalm 8:4 Or what is a human being that you are mindful of him, / a son of man that you care for him?
Psalm 8:5 Or him
Psalm 8:5 Or than God
Psalm 8:5 Or him
Psalm 8:6 Or made him ruler . . . ; / . . . his

Revelation 21:1-6

New International Version

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^[a]^(A) for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,^(B) and there was no longer any sea. ²I saw the Holy City,^(C) the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,^(D) prepared as a bride^(E) beautifully dressed for her husband. ³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.^(F) They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.^(G) ⁴‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.^(H) There will be no more death’^[b]^(I) or mourning or crying or pain,^(J) for the old order of things has passed away.”^(K)

⁵He who was seated on the throne^(L) said, “I am making everything new!”^(M) Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”^(N)

⁶He said to me: “It is done.^(O) I am the Alpha and the Omega,^(P) the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost^(Q) from the spring of the water of life.^(R)

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