Ecclesiastes 3:1-13 ▼

1 There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven--

2 A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

3 A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear 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 throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

6 A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.

7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent 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 is there to the worker from that in which he toils?

10 I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves.

11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has 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 in one's lifetime;

13 moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor-- it is the gift of God.