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- To everything — a season, and a time to every delight under the heavens:
- 2
- A time to bring forth, And a time to die.
A time to plant, And a time to eradicate the planted.
- 3
- A time to slay, 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 skip.
- 5
- A time to cast away stones, And a time to heap up stones.
A time to embrace, And a time to be far from embracing.
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- A time to seek, And a time to destroy.
A time to keep, And a time to cast away.
- 7
- A time to rend, And a time to sew.
A time to be silent, And a time to speak.
- 8
- A time to love, And a time to hate.
A time of war, And a time of peace.
- 9
- What advantage hath the doer in that which he is labouring at?
- 10
- I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.
- 11
- The whole He hath made beautiful in its season;
also, that knowledge He hath put in their heart without which man findeth not out the work that God hath done from the beginning even unto the end.
- 12
- I have known that there is no good for them except to rejoice and to do good during their life,
- 13
- yea, even every man who eateth and hath drunk and seen good by all his labour, it [is] a gift of God.
- 14
- I have known that all that God doth is to the age, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn;
and God hath wrought that they do fear before Him.
- 15
- What is that which hath been? already it is, and that which [is] to be hath already been, and God requireth that which is pursued.
- 16
- And again, I have seen under the sun the place of judgment — there [is] the wicked;
and the place of righteousness — there [is] the wicked.
- 17
- I said in my heart, `The righteous and the wicked doth God judge, for a time [is] to every matter and for every work there.'
- 18
- I said in my heart concerning the matter of the sons of man that God might cleanse them, so as to see that they themselves [are] beasts.
- 19
- For an event [is to] the sons of man, and an event [is to] the beasts, even one event [is] to them;
as the death of this, so [is] the death of that;
and one spirit [is] to all, and the advantage of man above the beast is nothing, for the whole [is] vanity.
- 20
- The whole are going unto one place, the whole have been from the dust, and the whole are turning back unto the dust.
- 21
- Who knoweth the spirit of the sons of man that is going up on high, and the spirit of the beast that is going down below to the earth?
- 22
- And I have seen that there is nothing better than that man rejoice in his works, for it [is] his portion;
for who doth bring him in to look on that which is after him?
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