The Mystery of Time
1 There is an occasion for everything,
and a time for every activity under heaven: 3:1 Ec 3:17; 8:6
2 a time to give birth and a time to die; 3:2 Jb 14:5; Heb 9:27
a time to plant and a time to uproot; 3:2 Lit uproot what is planted
3 a time to kill and a time to heal;
a time to tear down and a time to build;
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh; 3:4 Rm 12:15
a time to mourn and a time to dance; 3:4 Ex 15:20
5 a time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; 3:5 2Kg 3:19,25; Is 5:2
a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing; 3:5 1Co 7:5
6 a time to search and a time to count as lost;
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; 3:7 Am 5:13; 1Co 14:26–32
8 a time to love and a time to hate;
a time for war and a time for peace. 3:8 Mt 5:9; 10:34
9 What does the worker gain from his struggles? 3:9 Ec 1:310 I have seen the task that God has given the children of Adam to keep them occupied. 3:10 Ec 1:13; 2:2611 He has made everything appropriate 3:11 Or beautiful in its time. 3:11 Gn 1:31 He has also put eternity in their hearts, 3:11 Or has put a sense of past and future into their minds, or has placed ignorance in their hearts but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end. 3:11 Jb 5:9; Ec 7:23; 8:17; Rm 11:3312 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy the 3:12 Lit his good life. 13 It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts. 3:13 Ec 2:24; 5:1914 I know that everything God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. 3:14 Rv 22:18–19 God works so that people will be in awe of him. 3:14 Ex 7:5; Ezk 36:2315 Whatever is, has already been, 3:15 Ec 1:9; 6:10 and whatever will be, already is. However, God seeks justice for the persecuted. 3:15 Lit God seeks what is pursued
The Mystery of Injustice and Death
16 I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness. 3:16 Ec 4:1; 5:8; 8:917 I said to myself, "God will judge the righteous and the wicked, 3:17 Ec 11:9; Mt 16:27; Rm 2:6–10; 2Th 1:6–9 since there is a time for every activity and every work." 3:17 Ec 3:118 I said to myself, "This happens so that God may test the children of Adam and they may see for themselves that they are like animals." 3:18 Ps 49:12,20; 73:2219 For the fate of the children of Adam and the fate of animals is the same. 3:19 Ec 9:12 As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile. 20 All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust. 3:20 Gn 3:19; Ec 12:721 Who knows if the spirits of the children of Adam go upward and the spirits of animals go downward to the earth? 22 I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities 3:22 Ec 2:24 because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies? 3:22 Lit after him, 3:22 Ec 2:18; 6:12; 8:7; 10:14