Ecclesiastes 3

1Everything has its season, and every matter under heaven has its time:

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 throw stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to hold back from embracing;

6a time to seek and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away;

7a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to keep 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 advantage does the laborer get from toiling?

10I have seen the task God has given to human beings to keep them busy.

11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also placed eternity in their hearts, but in such a way that no one can discover the work God has done from start to finish.

12I have come to know that nothing is better for them than rejoicing and doing good throughout their lives;

13and also that when anyone eats and drinks and finds enjoyment in all their toil, it is a gift from God.

14I know that everything God does will endure forever; there is no adding to it and no taking away from it. God has done this so that people will stand in awe before him.

15What has been already exists, and what is yet to be has already been; God seeks out what has been driven off.

16I saw something more under the sun: the place of justice—wickedness was there; the place of righteousness—wickedness was there.

17I told myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked, because there is a time there for every purpose and for every action.”

18I told myself about human beings, “God is putting them to the test so they can see that they are, in themselves, animals.”

19For humans meet the same fate as animals—one fate for them both: the death of one is like the death of the other. All of them share one breath, and a human has no advantage over an animal, because everything is futile.

20All of them go to one place: all of them came from the dust, and all of them go back to the dust.

21Who knows whether the human spirit rises upward and the animal’s spirit sinks down into the earth?

22So I saw that nothing is better than for people to find joy in what they do, since that is their portion. For who can bring them to see what will come after them?