Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

New King James Version

Everything Has Its Time

3 To everything there is a season,
A ^(A)time for every purpose under heaven:

²A time ^[a]to be born,
And ^(B)a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck 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 dance;
⁵A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
^(D)A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
⁷A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
^(E)A time to keep silence,
And a time to ^(F)speak;
⁸A time to love,
And a time to ^(G)hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

⁹^(H)What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰^(I)I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that ^(J)no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

¹²I know that nothing is ^(K)better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³and also that ^(L)every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
^(M)Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
¹⁵^(N)That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God ^[b]requires an account of ^[c]what is past.