| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: | 1For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. |
| 2a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; | 2A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. |
| 3a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; | 3A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up. |
| 4a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; | 4A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. |
| 5a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; | 5A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. |
| 6a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; | 6A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. |
| 7a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; | 7A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. |
| 8a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. | 8A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. |
| 9What gain has the worker from his toil? | 9What do people really get for all their hard work? |
| 10I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. | 10I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. |
| 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. | 11Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. |
| 12I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; | 12So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. |
| 13also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. | 13And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. |
| 14I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. | 14And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. |
| 15That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away. | 15What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again. The Injustices of Life |
| 16Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. | 16I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt! |
| 17I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. | 17I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.” |
| 18I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. | 18I also thought about the human condition—how God proves to people that they are like animals. |
| 19For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. | 19For people and animals share the same fate—both breathe and both must die. So people have no real advantage over the animals. How meaningless! |
| 20All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. | 20Both go to the same place—they came from dust and they return to dust. |
| 21Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? | 21For who can prove that the human spirit goes up and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth? |
| 22So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him? | 22So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is our lot in life. And no one can bring us back to see what happens after we die. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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