To Everything There Is a Season

¹ To 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 uproot,

³ a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to break down and a time to build,

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 search and a time to count as lost,

a time to keep and a time to discard,

⁷ a time to tear and a time to mend,

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.

God’s Works Remain Forever

⁹ What does the worker gain from his toil? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful^* in its time. He has also set eternity^* in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.

¹² I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live, ¹³ and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor — this is the gift of God. ¹⁴ I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him. ¹⁵ What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.

From Dust to Dust

¹⁶ Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. ¹⁷ I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

¹⁸ I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them^* so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.” ¹⁹ For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other — they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile. ²⁰ All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

²¹ Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth? ²² I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?