¹ To everything--a season, and a time to every delight under the heavens:

² A time to bring forth, And a time to die. A time to plant, And a time to eradicate the planted.

³ A time to slay, And a time to heal, A time to break 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 skip.

⁵ A time to cast away stones, And a time to heap up stones. A time to embrace, And a time to be far from embracing.

⁶ A time to seek, And a time to destroy. A time to keep, And a time to cast away.

⁷ A time to rend, And a time to sew. A time to be silent, And a time to speak.

⁸ A time to love, And a time to hate. A time of war, And a time of peace.

⁹ What advantage hath the doer in that which he is labouring at?

¹⁰ I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it.

¹¹ The whole He hath made beautiful in its season; also, that knowledge He hath put in their heart without which man findeth not out the work that God hath done from the beginning even unto the end.

¹² I have known that there is no good for them except to rejoice and to do good during their life,

¹³ yea, even every man who eateth and hath drunk and seen good by all his labour, it is a gift of God.

¹⁴ I have known that all that God doth is to the age, to it nothing is to be added, and from it nothing is to be withdrawn; and God hath wrought that they do fear before Him.

¹⁵ What is that which hath been? already it is, and that which is to be hath already been, and God requireth that which is pursued.

¹⁶ And again, I have seen under the sun the place of judgment--there is the wicked; and the place of righteousness--there is the wicked.

¹⁷ I said in my heart, `The righteous and the wicked doth God judge, for a time is to every matter and for every work there.'

¹⁸ I said in my heart concerning the matter of the sons of man that God might cleanse them, so as to see that they themselves are beasts.

¹⁹ For an event is to the sons of man, and an event is to the beasts, even one event is to them; as the death of this, so is the death of that; and one spirit is to all, and the advantage of man above the beast is nothing, for the whole is vanity.

²⁰ The whole are going unto one place, the whole have been from the dust, and the whole are turning back unto the dust.

²¹ Who knoweth the spirit of the sons of man that is going up on high, and the spirit of the beast that is going down below to the earth?

²² And I have seen that there is nothing better than that man rejoice in his works, for it is his portion; for who doth bring him in to look on that which is after him?