Ecclesiastes 3:7-22

⁷A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.

⁸A time to love, and a time to hate. A time of war, and a time of peace.—

⁹What profit hath he who laboreth from that with which he wearieth himself?

¹⁰I have seen the business which God hath given to the sons of men to exercise themselves therewith.

¹¹God maketh every thing good in its time; but he hath put the world into the heart of man, so that he understandeth not the work which God doeth, from the beginning to the end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for a man than that he should rejoice and enjoy good his life long.

¹³But when a man eateth and drinketh, and enjoyeth good through all his labor, this is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that whatever God doeth, that shall be for ever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken from it; and God doeth it that men may fear before him.

¹⁵That which is, was long ago; and that which is to be, hath already been; and God recalleth that which is past.

¹⁶Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice there was iniquity; and in the place of righteousness, iniquity.

¹⁷Then said I in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked.” For there shall be a time for every matter and for every work.

¹⁸I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God will prove them, in order that they may see that they are like the beasts.

¹⁹For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts: one lot befalleth both. As the one dieth, so dieth the other. Yea, there is one spirit in them, and a man hath no pre-eminence above a beast; for all is vanity.

²⁰All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again.

²¹Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of a beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth?

²²And so I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his labors; for that is his portion. For who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?