Ecclesiastes 3 (NCB) (2024)

Chapter 3

A Time for Everything^[a]

¹For everything there is a season,
and a time^[b] for every activity under heaven.
²A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to uproot what is planted.
³A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to tear down, and a time to build up.
⁴A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance.
⁵A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.
⁶A time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to discard.
⁷A time to tear, and a time to mend;
a time to be silent, and a time to speak.
⁸A time to love, and a time to hate:
a time for war, and a time for peace.

⁹What gain does the worker have from his toil? ¹⁰I have observed the tasks that God has designated to keep men occupied. ¹¹He has made everything suitable for its time, and he has given men a sense of past and future,^[c] but they never have the slightest comprehension of what God has wrought from beginning to end.

¹²I understand that man’s greatest happiness is to be glad and do well throughout his life. ¹³And when we eat and drink and find satisfaction in all our labors, this is a gift of God.

¹⁴I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or subtracted from it. God has done this so that everyone will be in awe standing in his presence.

¹⁵Whatever is now has already been,
that which is to come already is,
and God will restore whatever might be displaced.

¹⁶The Problem of Retribution.^[d] Moreover, I observed something else under the sun:

Where justice should be, there was wickedness,
and iniquity was in the place of righteousness.
¹⁷But I remained confident in my belief
that God will judge both the righteous and the wicked,
for he has appointed a time for every matter
and he will issue a judgment on every work.

¹⁸I said to myself that in dealing with men it is God’s purpose to test them in order to show them that they are animals. ¹⁹For the fate of men and beasts is identical: as the one dies, so does the other. They all have the same life-breath, and man has no advantage over the beast in this regard. For everything is vanity. ²⁰All go to the same place: all were made from the dust, and to the dust all will return.

²¹Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of an animal goes downward to the earth?^{[e] 22}And so I came to realize that there is nothing better for man than to enjoy his work, since that is his lot. No one has the power to let him see what will happen after he is gone.

Everything Has Its Time

3To everything there is a season,
A ^(A)time for every purpose under heaven:

²A time ^[a]to be born,
And ^(B)a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
³A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
⁴A time to ^(C)weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
⁵A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
^(D)A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
⁷A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
^(E)A time to keep silence,
And a time to ^(F)speak;
⁸A time to love,
And a time to ^(G)hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

^9(H)What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ^10(I)I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that ^(J)no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

¹²I know that nothing is ^(K)better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³and also that ^(L)every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
^(M)Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
^15(N)That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God ^[b]requires an account of ^[c]what is past.

Injustice Seems to Prevail

¹⁶Moreover ^(O)I saw under the sun:

In the place of ^[d]judgment,
Wickedness was there;
And in the place of righteousness,
^[e]Iniquity was there.

¹⁷I said in my heart,

^(P)“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,
For there is a time there for every ^[f]purpose and for every work.”

¹⁸I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” ^19(Q)For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. ²⁰All go to one place: ^(R)all are from the dust, and all return to dust. ^21(S)Who^[g] knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? ^22(T)So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for ^(U)that is his ^[h]heritage. ^(V)For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?