Ecclesiastes 3:1-22.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-22 (Good News Translation)
1Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.
2He sets the time for birth and the time for death,
the time for planting and the time for pulling up, 3the time for killing
and the time for healing,
the time for tearing down and the time for building. 4He sets the time for
sorrow and the time for joy,
the time for mourning and the time for dancing, 5the time for making love
and the time for not making love,
the time for kissing and the time for not kissing. 6He sets the time for
finding and the time for losing,
the time for saving and the time for throwing away, 7the time for tearing
and the time for mending,
the time for silence and the time for talk. 8He sets the time for love and
the time for hate,
the time for war and the time for peace. 9What do we gain from all our
work? 10I know the heavy burdens that God has laid on us. 11He has set the
right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but
never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does. 12So I
realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are
still alive. 13All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked
for. It is God's gift. 14I know that everything God does will last forever.
You can't add anything to it or take anything away from it. And one thing
God does is to make us stand in awe of him. 15Whatever happens or can
happen has already happened before. God makes the same thing happen again
and again. 16In addition, I have also noticed that in this world you find
wickedness where justice and right ought to be. 17I told myself, God is
going to judge the righteous and the evil alike, because every thing,
every action, will happen at its own set time. 18I decided that God is
testing us, to show us that we are no better than animals. 19After all,
the same fate awaits human beings and animals alike. One dies just like
the other. They are the same kind of creature. A human being is no better
off than an animal, because life has no meaning for either. 20They are
both going to the same place—the dust. They both came from it; they will
both go back to it. 21How can anyone be sure that the human spirit goes
upward while an animal's spirit goes down into the ground? 22So I realized
then that the best thing we can do is enjoy what we have worked for. There
is nothing else we can do. There is no way for us to know what will happen
after we die.
2He sets the time for birth and the time for death,
the time for planting and the time for pulling up, 3the time for killing
and the time for healing,
the time for tearing down and the time for building. 4He sets the time for
sorrow and the time for joy,
the time for mourning and the time for dancing, 5the time for making love
and the time for not making love,
the time for kissing and the time for not kissing. 6He sets the time for
finding and the time for losing,
the time for saving and the time for throwing away, 7the time for tearing
and the time for mending,
the time for silence and the time for talk. 8He sets the time for love and
the time for hate,
the time for war and the time for peace. 9What do we gain from all our
work? 10I know the heavy burdens that God has laid on us. 11He has set the
right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but
never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does. 12So I
realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are
still alive. 13All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked
for. It is God's gift. 14I know that everything God does will last forever.
You can't add anything to it or take anything away from it. And one thing
God does is to make us stand in awe of him. 15Whatever happens or can
happen has already happened before. God makes the same thing happen again
and again. 16In addition, I have also noticed that in this world you find
wickedness where justice and right ought to be. 17I told myself, God is
going to judge the righteous and the evil alike, because every thing,
every action, will happen at its own set time. 18I decided that God is
testing us, to show us that we are no better than animals. 19After all,
the same fate awaits human beings and animals alike. One dies just like
the other. They are the same kind of creature. A human being is no better
off than an animal, because life has no meaning for either. 20They are
both going to the same place—the dust. They both came from it; they will
both go back to it. 21How can anyone be sure that the human spirit goes
upward while an animal's spirit goes down into the ground? 22So I realized
then that the best thing we can do is enjoy what we have worked for. There
is nothing else we can do. There is no way for us to know what will happen
after we die.
God bless you.
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