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Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

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Chapter 3

A Time for Everything

1There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

2a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

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,

6a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

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 does the worker gain from his toil?10I have seen the burden God has laid on men.11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.12I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.13That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.14I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

15Whatever is has already been,
and what will be has been before;
and God will call the past to account.Or God calls back the past

16And I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of judgment—wickedness was there,
in the place of justice—wickedness was there.

17I thought in my heart,
“God will bring to judgment
both the righteous and the wicked,
for there will be a time for every activity,
a time for every deed.”

18I also thought, “As for men, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals.19Man's fate is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breathOr spirit; man has no advantage over the animal. Everything is meaningless.20All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.21Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animalOr Who knows the spirit of man, which rises upward, or the spirit of the animal, which goes down into the earth?”

22So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?

Topics: is life and time a purpose predestination priority calendar contrast destiny timing schedule seasons determinism

Hide Notes

Jithin36956 - (eBible Novice) over 2 years ago.

Everything has a time.

Emma37962 - (eBible Novice) about 1 year ago.

Time and Season

Caleb_Seth_Kunz - (eBible Mentor) about 1 year ago.

This si beautiful poetry that states that for everthing there is a season, even war. That is why if I were old enough I would be servivg in the war, because I believe that now is the time for this war.

Pearl_65 - (eBible Scholar) 9 months ago.

A time and season for God. A season is only a moment in God's time. A season should only be a short time for us also here on earth.

DeborahDP - (eBible Novice) 6 months ago.

One of my most favorite passages.