Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for
Everything |
1 |
To every thing there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
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2 |
a time to be born, and a time to die; a
time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
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3 |
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a
time to break down, and a time to build up;
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4 |
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a
time to mourn, and a time to dance;
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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;
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6 |
a time to get, and a time to lose; a time
to keep, and a time to cast away;
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7 |
a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time
to keep silence, and a time to speak;
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8 |
a time to love, and a time to hate; a
time of war, and a time of peace.
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9 |
What profit hath he that worketh in that
wherein he laboreth?
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10 |
I have seen the travail, which God hath
given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
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11 |
He hath made every thing beautiful
in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no
man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the
end.
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12 |
I know that there is no good in
them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his
life.
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13 |
And also that every man should eat and
drink, and enjoy the good of all his labor, it is the gift of
God.
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14 |
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it
shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken
from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before
him.
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15 |
That which hath been is now; and that
which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is
past.
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The Injustice of
Life |
16 |
And moreover I saw under the sun the
place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the
place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
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17 |
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the
righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every
purpose and for every work.
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18 |
I said in mine heart concerning the
estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that
they might see that they themselves are beasts.
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19 |
For that which befalleth the sons of men
befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth,
so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man
hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
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20 |
All go unto one place; all are of the
dust, and all turn to dust again.
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21 |
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth
upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the
earth?
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22 |
Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for
that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what
shall be after him?
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