- 1
- For everything there is a season, and a time for very purpose under heaven:
- 2
- a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
- 3
- a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
- 4
- a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
- 5
- a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
- 6
- a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
- 7
- a time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
- 8
- a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.
- 9
- What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth?
- 10
- I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith.
- 11
- He hath made everything beautiful in its time: also he hath set eternity in their heart, yet so that man cannot find out the work that God hath done from the beginning even to the end.
- 12
- I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good so long as they live.
- 13
- And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God.
- 14
- I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor anything taken from it;
and God hath done it, that men should fear before him.
- 15
- That which is hath been long ago;
and that which is to be hath long ago been: and God seeketh again that which is passed away.
- 16
- And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there;
and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there.
- 17
- I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked;
for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
- 18
- I said in my heart, [It is] because of the sons of men, that God may prove them, and that they may see that they themselves are [but as] beasts.
- 19
- For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts;
even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; and man hath no preeminence above the beasts: for all is vanity.
- 20
- All go unto one place;
all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
- 21
- Who knoweth the spirit of man, whether it goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast, whether it goeth downward to the earth?
- 22
- Wherefore I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his works;
for that is his portion: for who shall bring him [back] to see what shall be after him?
|