Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3:

Verses from Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 of the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible.

Ecclesiastes - Old Testament — Ecclesiastes – Old Testament

Everything has its own time

1. To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under the heaven:
2. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted;
3. a time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to tear 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 cast away stones, and a time to gather them together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain;
6. a time to seek and a time to give up, 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 from his effort?
10. I have seen the burden that God has laid on men.
11. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet man cannot fully comprehend what God has accomplished from beginning to end.
12. I realized that there is nothing better for a human being than to rejoice and do good while he lives.
13. I also saw that all effort and skill in work comes from competition. This too is fleeting, a passing breath.
14. I know that whatever God does will remain forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken away from it. God works this way so that people will fear him.
15. What is, has already been, and what will be, has already been; God will seek out what has been.
16. Moreover I have seen under the sun, that instead of righteousness there was wickedness; and instead of righteousness there was wickedness.
17 Then I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every purpose and for every work.”
18. Then I thought, “God tests the sons of men to see that they are like animals.
19. For the fate of the sons of men is the same fate as that of the beasts; one fate awaits them: as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath; man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.
20. All go to the same place; all come from the dust, and to the dust all return.
21. Who can tell whether the spirit of the sons of men ascends upward, or whether the spirit of the beast descends to the earth?
22. Therefore I concluded that there is nothing better for a man than to rejoice in his work, because that is his reward. For who will show him what will happen after death?