To Everything There is a Season
1 For everything there is a season,
and a time for every purpose under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which 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 cast away stones and a time to gather stones together,
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 cast away,
7 a time to tear and a time to sew,
a time to remain 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.
The Excellence in God’s Works
9 What profit has he who works in that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to occupy them. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet no man can fathom the work that God has done from the beginning to the end.
12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good as long as they live. 13 Also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of all his labor, is the gift of God. 14 I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should revere him. 15 That which is, has been long ago, and that which is yet to be, has been long ago. God researches that which is past.
16 Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. 17 I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every purpose and for every work.”
18 I said in my heart, “As for people, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals. 19 For the same fate that falls on mankind, falls on animals. As one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath, and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity.
From Dust to Dust
20 They all go to one place. All of them are from the dust, and all of them return to dust. 21 Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, whether it goes downward to the earth?”
22 Therefore I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion. For who can bring him to see what will be after him?