A modern English translation drawn directly from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. Translated word-for-word where possible, by a committee with scholarly oversight.
Uses the same source texts as the ESV, NASB, and most academic Bibles, including the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Nestle-Aland critical edition.
Ecclesiastes 3
Ecclesiastes 3 is the third chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes and contains one of the most famous poems in the Bible, often called "a time for everything." The 22-verse chapter opens with the poem and then continues the Teacher's meditation on God's timing and the search for meaning.
The chapter opens with the famous statement: "To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." What follows is a 14-couplet poem of opposites. There is a time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to refrain. A time to search and a time to give up. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
The Teacher then asks what gain workers have from their toil. He observes the task God has given to humans: God has made everything beautiful in its time, and has set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
He concludes that there is nothing better than for people to be happy and to do good while they live, to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their work. This is the gift of God.
The chapter then notes that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. The chapter closes with the Teacher observing injustice in the world and reflecting that God will judge both the righteous and the wicked. Humans and animals share the same fate; both come from dust and return to dust. The best thing, he says, is for people to enjoy their work, because that is their lot in this life.
Verse 1. To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:
Verse 2. a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
Verse 3. a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build,
Verse 4. a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
Verse 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,
Verse 6. a time to search and a time to count as lost, a time to keep and a time to discard,
Verse 7. a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
Verse 8. a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Verse 9. What does the worker gain from his toil?
Verse 10. I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.
Verse 11. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.
Verse 12. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,
Verse 13. and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God.
Verse 14. I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.
Verse 15. What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.
Verse 16. Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.
Verse 17. I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
Verse 18. I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”
Verse 19. For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.
Verse 20. All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
Verse 21. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth?
Verse 22. I have seen 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 come after him?
Last updated: