EcclesiastesChapter 3

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¹There is a season for everything. There is a time for every purpose under heaven: ²a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to pull up, ³a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build, ⁴a time to cry and a time to laugh,
a time to grieve and a time to dance, ⁵a time to throw stones away and a time to gather stones,
a time to hug and a time to hold back from hugging, ⁶a time to search and a time to give up as lost,
a time to keep and a time to throw away, ⁷a time to tear and a time to sew,
a time to be quiet and a time to speak, ⁸a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. ⁹What does the worker gain from all his hard work? ¹⁰I have seen the heavy load God has put on people to keep them busy. ¹¹God has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also put eternity in people's hearts. Yet they cannot understand the work God has done from beginning to end. ¹²I know there is nothing better for people than to be happy and do good while they live. ¹³I also know that everyone should eat and drink and find joy in all his work. This is the gift of God. ¹⁴I know that everything God does will last forever. Nothing can be added to it. Nothing can be taken from it. God does this so that people will fear him. ¹⁵What is here now has already been. What will be has already been too. For God will call the past to account. ¹⁶I saw something else under the sun. In the place of justice, there was evil. In the place where right should be, there was evil. ¹⁷I said in my heart, "God will judge both the righteous and the wicked. For there is a time for every activity and every deed." ¹⁸I said to myself, "God tests people so they can see for themselves that they are only animals." ¹⁹What happens to people and to animals is the same. As one dies, so does the other. They all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals, for everything is pointless. ²⁰All go to the same place. All come from dust, and all go back to dust. ²¹Who knows if a person's spirit goes up, and an animal's spirit goes down into the earth? ²²I have seen that nothing is better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can help him see what will happen after he is gone?