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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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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:2 Or “a time to be born”; MT reads the active form “to bear children”
  2. Ecclesiastes 3:10 Literally “the sons of the man”
  3. Ecclesiastes 3:10 Or “to be busy”
  4. Ecclesiastes 3:11 Literally “eternity”
  5. Ecclesiastes 3:12 Literally “no good”
  6. Ecclesiastes 3:12 Literally “to rejoice and to do good”
  7. Ecclesiastes 3:13 Literally “to see good in all his toil”
  8. Ecclesiastes 3:14 Or “they”
  9. Ecclesiastes 3:15 Literally “God seeks what is pursued”
  10. Ecclesiastes 3:17 Literally “in my heart”
  11. Ecclesiastes 3:17 The MT reads שָׁם “there,” but repointing to שָׂם, “he has appointed,” makes better sense
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Ecclesiastes 3:1-17
New American Standard Bible

A Time for Everything

3 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a (A)time for every matter under heaven—

2 A time to give birth and a (B)time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
3 A (C)time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to (D)weep and a time to (E)laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to (F)dance.
5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun 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 tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to (G)be silent and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to (H)hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

9 (I)What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the (J)task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to [a]occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Mankind

11 He has (K)made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind (L)will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

12 I know that there is (M)nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; 13 moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the (N)gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will [b](O)fear Him. 15 (P)That which is, is what has already been, and that which will be has already been; and God [c]seeks what has passed by.

16 Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is (Q)wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. 17 I said [d]to myself, “(R)God will judge the righteous and the wicked,” for a (S)time for every matter and for every deed [e]is there.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 3:10 Or trouble
  2. Ecclesiastes 3:14 Or be in awe before Him
  3. Ecclesiastes 3:15 Or finds
  4. Ecclesiastes 3:17 Lit in my heart
  5. Ecclesiastes 3:17 I.e., exists with God
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Ecclesiastes 2
Ecclesiastes 4
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