Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a 1time for every event under heaven -
2 A time to give birth and a 2time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
3 A 3time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to 4weep and a time to 5laugh; A time to mourn and a time to 6dance.
5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to 7be silent and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to 8hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
9 9What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils?
10 I have seen the 10task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

11 He has 11made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man 12will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.
12 I know that there is 13nothing better for them than * to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime;
13 moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor -it is the 14gift of God.
14 I know that everything * God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should 15fear Him.
15 That 16which * is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.
16 Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is 17wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
17 I said to myself, "18God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man," for a 19time for every matter and for every deed is there.
18 I said to myself concerning * the sons of men, "God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but 20beasts."
19 21For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity.
20 All go to the same place. All came from the 22dust and all return to the dust.
21 Who knows that the 23breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth?
22 I have seen that 24nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see 25what will occur after him?

Images for Ecclesiastes 3

Cross References 25

  • 1. Ecclesiastes 3:17; Ecclesiastes 8:6
  • 2. Job 14:5; Hebrews 9:27
  • 3. Genesis 9:6; 1 Samuel 2:6; Hosea 6:1, 2
  • 4. Romans 12:15
  • 5. Psalms 126:2
  • 6. Exodus 15:20
  • 7. Amos 5:13
  • 8. Psalms 101:3; Proverbs 13:5
  • 9. Ecclesiastes 1:3; Ecclesiastes 2:11; Ecclesiastes 5:16
  • 10. Ecclesiastes 1:13; Ecclesiastes 2:26
  • 11. Genesis 1:31
  • 12. Job 5:9; Ecclesiastes 7:23; Ecclesiastes 8:17; Romans 11:33
  • 13. Ecclesiastes 2:24
  • 14. Ecclesiastes 2:24; Ecclesiastes 5:19
  • 15. Ecclesiastes 5:7; Ecclesiastes 7:18; Ecclesiastes 8:12, 13; Ecclesiastes 12:13
  • 16. Ecclesiastes 1:9; Ecclesiastes 6:10
  • 17. Ecclesiastes 4:1; Ecclesiastes 5:8; Ecclesiastes 8:9
  • 18. Genesis 18:25; Psalms 96:13; Psalms 98:9; Ecclesiastes 11:9; Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6-10; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-9
  • 19. Ecclesiastes 3:1; Ecclesiastes 8:6
  • 20. Psalms 49:12, 20; Psalms 73:22
  • 21. Psalms 49:12; Ecclesiastes 9:12
  • 22. Genesis 3:19; Psalms 103:14; Ecclesiastes 12:7
  • 23. Ecclesiastes 12:7
  • 24. Ecclesiastes 2:24
  • 25. Ecclesiastes 2:18; Ecclesiastes 6:12; Ecclesiastes 8:7; Ecclesiastes 10:14

Footnotes 9

Ecclesiastes 3 Commentaries

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