A Time for Everything

3 There is a right time for everything, and everything on earth will happen at the right time.

God Controls His World

⁹ Do people really gain anything from their hard work? ¹⁰ I saw all the hard work God gave us to do. ¹¹ God gave us the ability to think about his world,^[b] but we can never completely understand everything he does. And yet, he does everything at just the right time.

¹² I learned that the best thing for people to do is to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live. ¹³ God wants everyone to eat, drink, and enjoy their work. These are gifts from God.

¹⁴ I learned that anything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to the work of God, and they cannot take anything away from it. God did this so that people would respect him.

Jesus Dies^(A)

²⁸ Later, Jesus knew that everything had been done. To make the Scriptures come true he said, “I am thirsty.”^{[a] 29} There was a jar full of sour wine there, so the soldiers soaked a sponge in it. They put the sponge on a branch of a hyssop plant and lifted it to Jesus’ mouth. ³⁰ When he tasted the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and died.