3:1
To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under heaven.
3:2
A time to be born, and a time to die.
A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.
3:3
A time to kill, and a time to heal.
A time to break down, and a time to build up.
3:4
A time to weep, and a time to laugh.
A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
3:5
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together.
A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
3:6
A time to get, and a time to lose.
A time to keep, and a time to cast away.
3:7
A time to rend, and a time to sew.
A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.
3:8
A time to love, and a time to hate.
A time of war, and a time of peace.
3:9
What profits a man from all his struggles?
3:10
I have seen the work God has given to the sons of men to occupy them.
3:11
He has made everything perfect in its season,
but he has not given man knowledge of his purpose,
nor of his plan from beginning to end.
3:12
I know now that there is nothing better for a man
than to rejoice and do good in his life.
3:13
Every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the fruits of all his labor.
It is the gift of God.
3:14
I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it or taken from it.
God does this so that men shall come to revere him and his ways.
3:15
That which has been, is now. That which is yet to be, has already been.
To God, what is, what was, and what will be are not different.
3:16
Moreover, I saw that in the places where there should be justice,
there is wickedness, and in places where there should be righteousness,
there is wickedness there as well.
3.17
I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
for there is a time for every purpose, and for every work.
3.18
I saw that things are as they are so that God might test the hearts of men,
and reveal to them that they are but beasts.
3.19
For that which befalls the beasts, befalls the sons of men.
The death of one is the same as the death of the other.
They all have one spirit. Man has no preeminence over the beasts.
This also is vanity.
3.20
All go to one place. All come from dust, and to dust they all shall return.
3.21
How can anyone say that the spirit of man goes upward,
and the spirit of beasts goes downward to the earth?
3.22
Therefore, I perceived that there is nothing better for a man
than to rejoice in his own works each day. That is his portion.
For who can say what might come after this?