3:1 For everything 1 there is an appointed time, 2
and an appropriate time 3 for every activity 4 on earth: 5
3:2 A time to be born, 6 and a time to die; 7
a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was 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 throw away stones, and a time to gather stones;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
3:6 A time to search, and a time to give something up as lost; 8
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
3:7 A time to rip, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.
3:8 A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
3:9 What benefit can a worker 9 gain from his toil? 10
3:10 I have observed the burden
that God has given to people 11 to keep them occupied.
3:11 God has made everything fit beautifully 12 in its appropriate time,
but 13 he has also placed ignorance 14 in the human heart 15
so that 16 people 17 cannot discover what God has ordained, 18
from the beginning to the end 19 of their lives. 20
3:12 I have concluded 21 that there is nothing better for people 22
than 23 to be happy and to enjoy
themselves 24 as long as they live,
3:13 and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil,
for these things 25 are a gift from God.
3:14 I also know that whatever God does will endure forever;
nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it.
God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.
3:15 Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been;
for God will seek to do again 26 what has occurred 27 in the past. 28
3:16 I saw something else on earth: 29
In the place of justice, there was wickedness,
and in the place of fairness, 30 there was wickedness.
3:17 I thought to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked;
for there is an appropriate time for every activity,
and there is a time of judgment 31 for every deed.
3:18 I also thought to myself, “It is 32 for the sake of people, 33
so God can clearly 34 show 35 them that they are like animals.
3:19 For the fate of humans 36 and the fate of animals are the same:
As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath.
There is no advantage for humans over animals,
for both are fleeting.
3:20 Both go to the same place,
both come from the dust,
and to dust both return.
3:21 Who really knows if the human spirit 37 ascends upward,
and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?
3:22 So I perceived there is nothing better than for people 38 to enjoy their work, 39
because that is their 40 reward;
for who can show them what the future holds? 41