Ecclesiastes 3

English Standard Version

A Time for Everything

3 For everything there is a season, and ^(A)a time for every matter under heaven:

²a time to be born, and a time to ^(B)die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴a time to ^(C)weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to ^(D)dance;
⁵a time to ^(E)cast away stones, and a time to ^(F)gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to ^(G)refrain from embracing;
⁶a time to seek, and a time to ^(H)lose;
a time to keep, and a time to ^(I)cast away;
⁷a time to ^(J)tear, and a time to sew;
a time to ^(K)keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸a time to love, and a time to ^(L)hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

The God-Given Task

⁹What ^(M)gain has the worker from his toil? ¹⁰I have seen ^(N)the business that ^(O)God has given to the children of man to be busy with. ¹¹He has ^(P)made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot ^(Q)find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. ¹²I perceived that there is ^(R)nothing better for them than to be joyful and to ^(S)do good as long as they live; ¹³also ^(T)that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is ^(U)God's gift to man.

¹⁴I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; ^(V)nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. ¹⁵That which is, ^(W)already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God ^(X)seeks what has been driven away.^[a]

From Dust to Dust

¹⁶Moreover, ^(Y)I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even ^(Z)there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. ¹⁷I said in my heart, ^(AA)God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is ^(AB)a time for every matter and for every work. ¹⁸I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but ^(AC)beasts. ¹⁹^(AD)For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.^[b] ²⁰All go to one place. All are from ^(AE)the dust, and to dust all return. ²¹Who knows whether ^(AF)the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? ²²So I saw that there is ^(AG)nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for ^(AH)that is his lot. Who can bring him to see ^(AI)what will be after him?