1 To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: 2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, 3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build, 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 search and a time to count as lost, a time to keep and a time to discard, 7 a time to tear and a time to mend, 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 does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them. 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. 12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,
Ecclesiastes 3:1–12
Semantically similar passages
Ecclesiastes 8:5–7
5 Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure. 6 For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him. 7 Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him w…
Ecclesiastes 7:13–15
13 Consider the work of God: Who can straighten what He has bent? 14 In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him. 15 In m…
Ecclesiastes 3:16–18
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. 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…
Ecclesiastes 1:2–4
2 “Futility of futilities,” says the Teacher, “futility of futilities! Everything is futile!” 3 What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
Ecclesiastes 1:8–10
8 All things are wearisome, more than one can describe; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear content with hearing. 9 What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a case where one c…
Ecclesiastes 3:21–22
21 Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth? 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?
Ecclesiastes 6:11–12
11 For the more words, the more futility—and how does that profit anyone? 12 For who knows what is good for a man during the few days in which he passes through his fleeting life like a shadow? Who can tell a man what will come after him under the sun?
Job 7:1–2
1 “Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand? 2 Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hireling he waits for his wages.
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