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Ecclesiastes 3 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

A Time for Everything

3 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a ^(A)time for every matter under heaven—

²A time to give birth and a ^(B)time to die;
A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.
³A ^(C)time to kill and a time to heal;
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
⁴A time to ^(D)weep and a time to ^(E)laugh;
A time to mourn and a time to ^(F)dance.
⁵A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.
⁶A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
⁷A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to ^(G)be silent and a time to speak.
⁸A time to love and a time to ^(H)hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

⁹^(I)What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰I have seen the ^(J)task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to ^[a]occupy themselves.

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Mankind

¹¹He has ^(K)made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind ^(L)will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

¹²I know that there is ^(M)nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; ¹³moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the ^(N)gift of God. ¹⁴I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will ^[b]^(O)fear Him. ¹⁵^(P)That which is, is what has already been, and that which will be has already been; and God ^[c]seeks what has passed by.

¹⁶Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is ^(Q)wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. ¹⁷I said ^[d]to myself, “^(R)God will judge the righteous and the wicked,” for a ^(S)time for every matter and for every deed ^[e]is there. ¹⁸I said ^[f]to myself regarding the sons of mankind, “God is testing them in order for them to see that they are as ^(T)animals, they to themselves.” ¹⁹^(U)For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals ^[g]is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility. ²⁰All go to the same place. All came from the ^(V)dust and all return to the dust. ²¹Who knows that the ^(W)spirit of the sons of mankind ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth? ²²I have seen that ^(X)nothing is better than when a person is happy in his activities, for that is his ^[h]lot. For who will bring him to see ^(Y)what will occur after him?

New American Standard Bible (NASB)