Ecclesiastes 3 - Contemporary English Version (CEV)

Everything Has Its Time

3 Everything on earth
has its own time
and its own season.
2 There is a time
for birth and death,
planting and reaping,
3 for killing and healing,
destroying and building,
4 for crying and laughing,
weeping and dancing,
5 for throwing stones
and gathering stones,
embracing and parting.
6 There is a time
for finding and losing,
keeping and giving,
7 for tearing and sewing,
listening and speaking.
8 There is also a time
for love and hate,
for war and peace.

What God Has Given Us To Do

9 What do we gain by all our hard work? 10 I have seen what difficult things God demands of us. 11 God makes everything happen at the right time. Yet none of us can ever fully understand all he has done, and he puts questions in our minds about the past and the future. 12 I know the best thing we can do is to always enjoy life, 13 because God's gift to us is the happiness we get from our food and drink and from the work we do. 14 Everything God has done will last forever; nothing he does can ever be changed. God has done all this, so that we will worship him.

15 Everything that happens
has happened before,
and all that will be
has already been—
God does everything
over and over again.[a]

The Future Is Known Only to God

16 Everywhere on earth I saw violence and injustice instead of fairness and justice. 17 So I told myself that God has set a time and a place for everything. He will judge everyone, both the wicked and the good. 18 I know God is testing us to show us that we are merely animals. 19 Like animals we breathe and die, and we are no better off than they are. It just doesn't make sense. 20 All living creatures go to the same place. We are made from earth, and we return to earth. 21 Who really knows if our spirits go up and the spirits of animals go down into the earth? 22 We were meant to enjoy our work, and that's the best thing we can do. We can never know the future.

Footnotes

  1. 3.15 God does … again: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to break down, and a time to build up;4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;...
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A Time For Everything3 For everything there is a seasonand a time for every activity under heaven:2 a time to give birth and a time to die,a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted;3 a time to kill and a time to heal,a time to tear down and a time to build up;4 a time to weep and a time t...
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Ecclesiastes 3 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Everything Has Its Time3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to break down, and a time to build up;4 a time to weep, and ...
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Everything Has Its Time3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to break down, and a time to build up;4 a time to weep, and ...
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Everything Has Its Time3 For everything there is a season and a time for every matter under heaven:(A)2 a time to be born and a time to die;a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted;(B)3 a time to kill and a time to heal;a time to break down and a time to build up;4 a time to weep and a...
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A Time for Everything3 For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.3 A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up.4 A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to ...
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A Time for All Events in Life3 For everything[a] there is an appointed time,[b]and an appropriate time[c] for every activity[d] on earth:[e]2 A time to be born,[f] and a time to die;[g]a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to break down, a...
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