Ecclesiastes 3

1 There is a right/correct time for everything, a time for everything that we do in this world.

For every thing there is a season; and a [proper] time is for every pursuit under the heavens.

2 There is a time to be born, and there is a time to die. There is a time to plant [seeds], and there is a time to harvest crops.

[There is] a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what hath been planted;

3 There is a time to kill [people], and there is a time to heal [people]. There is a time to tear things down, and there is a time to build things.

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 There is a time to cry, and there is a time to laugh. There is a time to mourn, and there is a time to dance [joyfully].

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 There is a time to throw away stones [from a field], and there is a time to gather stones [to build walls/houses]. There is a time to embrace [people], and there is a time to not embrace [people].

A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather up stones; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embracing;

6 There is a time to search for things, and there is a time to stop searching for things. There is a time to keep/save things, and there is a time to throw things away.

A time to seek, and a time to let things be lost; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

7 There is a time to tear [our old clothes], and there is a time to mend [clothes]. There is a time to say nothing, and there is a time when we should speak.

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 There is a time when we should love [things that people do], and there is a time when we should hate [things that people do]. There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace.

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

9 (What do people gain from all the work that they do?/It seems that people gain very little from all the work that they do [RHQ]).

What profit hath [now] he that worketh in that wherein he toileth?

10 I have seen the work that God has given people to do.

I have seen the employment, which God hath given to the sons of men to busy themselves therewith.

11 God has appointed a time that is right/correct for everything to happen. He has [also] caused people to realize that there are things that will endure forever. But in spite of that, no one can completely understand everything that God has done, from the time that he starts doing things until he finishes them.

Every thing hath he made beautiful in its [proper] time: he hath also placed the eternity in their heart, without a man's being able to find out the work that God hath made from the beginning to the end.

12 I know that the best [LIT] thing for us people to do is to rejoice and to do good things [all] during the time that we are alive.

I know that there is nothing good [inherent] in them, but for every one to rejoice and to do what is good during [all] his life.

13 And I also know that everyone should eat and drink, and enjoy the work that they do. Those are things that God gives to us.

For also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy what is good for all his toil, is likewise a gift of God.

14 I [also] know that what God does endures forever. No one can add to what God does, and no one can take away from the things that God does. God does those things in order that people would revere him.

I know that whatsoever God doth, that will be for ever; to it nothing can be added, and from it there is nothing to be diminished: and God hath so made it, that men should be afraid of him.

15 Things that exist now have already existed previously, and things that will happen in the future have already happened previously; God causes the same things to happen many times.

That which hath been hath long since appeared [again]; and what is to be hath already been; and God seeketh [again] that which is sped away.

16 Furthermore, I saw that on this earth [MTY], even in the courts where we expect judges to make right decisions about what people had done, they did many wicked [DOU] things.

And moreover I have seen under the sun, [that in] the place of justice, even there was wickedness; and [that in] the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness.

17 [So] I said to myself [SYN], “God will judge [both] righteous [people] and wicked [people]; there is a time [for him to do that], because there is a time for him to do everything.”

I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time for every pursuit; and on account of every deed there [will he judge].

18 And regarding humans, I [also] said to myself, “God is testing us, to show us that [in one way] people are no different than animals,

I said in my heart concerning the speaking of the sons of men, that God might make it clear to them, and that they might see that they by themselves are but beasts.

19 because what happens to people happens to animals. Animals die, and people die. We all must breathe [to remain alive]. [With regard to that], people have no advantage over animals, so I have a difficult time understanding that.

For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even the same thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one kind of spirit: so that the preeminence of man above the beast is nought; for all is vanity.

20 [People and animals] all die and are buried. We are all made of soil, and [when we die], our corpses become soil again.

Every thing goeth unto one place: every thing came from the dust, and every thing returneth to the dust.

21 No one knows [RHQ] for sure that when we die, our souls/spirits go up to heaven and the souls/spirits of animals go down to the place where the dead are.”

Who knoweth the spirit of the sons of man that ascendeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that descendeth downward to the earth?

22 So I concluded that the best thing for [us] people to do is to be happy about the work that we do, because that is what God has given to us. I say that because no one of us [RHQ] knows what happens to us after we die.

And so did I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion; for who can bring him to look with pleasure on what will be after him?