Ecclesiastes 3:1-17
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Everything Has Its Time
3 For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven:(A)
2 a time to be born and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted;(B)
3 a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to break 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;(C)
5 a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;(D)
6 a time to seek and a time to lose;
a time to keep and a time to throw away;
7 a time to tear and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent and a time to speak;(E)
8 a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.(F)
The God-Given Task
9 What gain have the workers from their toil?(G) 10 I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with.(H) 11 He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover, he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.(I) 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 13 moreover, it is God’s gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 14 I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it nor anything taken from it; God has done this so that all should stand in awe before him.(J) 15 That which is already has been, that which is to be already is, and God seeks out what has gone by.[a](K)
Judgment and the Future Belong to God
16 Moreover, I saw under the sun that, in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well. 17 I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter and for every work.”(L)
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- 3.15 Heb what is pursued
Ecclesiastes 3:1-17
Lexham English Bible
God Has Ordained the Ebb and Flow of Human Activities
3 For everything there is an appointed time, a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to bear[a] and a time to die;
a time to plant and a time to root up what is planted;
3 a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to break 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 seek and a time to lose;
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;
8 a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What does the worker gain in his toil?
No One Understands God’s Mysterious Plan
10 I have seen the busyness God gives to humans[b] to preoccupy[c] them. 11 He has made everything suitable in its time. He also has put the past[d] in their hearts, yet no one can grasp what God does from the beginning to the end. 12 So I realized that there is nothing better[e] for them than to rejoice and enjoy themselves[f] during their lives. 13 And for anyone to eat and drink, that is, to enjoy the fruit of all his toil,[g] this also is a gift of God.
14 I know everything God does endures forever;
nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it,
for God so acts that humans[h] might stand in awe before him.
15 What is—it already was,
and what will be—it already is,
for God will do what he has done.[i]
God’s Mysterious Plan Allows Injustice to Exist in the World
16 I saw something else under the sun: instead of justice there was evil; instead of righteousness there was wickedness. 17 So I said to myself,[j] “God will surely judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed[k] a time of judgment for every deed and every work.”
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- Ecclesiastes 3:2 Or “a time to be born”; MT reads the active form “to bear children”
- Ecclesiastes 3:10 Literally “the sons of the man”
- Ecclesiastes 3:10 Or “to be busy”
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 Literally “eternity”
- Ecclesiastes 3:12 Literally “no good”
- Ecclesiastes 3:12 Literally “to rejoice and to do good”
- Ecclesiastes 3:13 Literally “to see good in all his toil”
- Ecclesiastes 3:14 Or “they”
- Ecclesiastes 3:15 Literally “God seeks what is pursued”
- Ecclesiastes 3:17 Literally “in my heart”
- Ecclesiastes 3:17 The MT reads שָׁם “there,” but repointing to שָׂם, “he has appointed,” makes better sense
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