Ecclesiastes 3

¹⁷I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

³and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.

⁵Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.

⁶For there is a right time and procedure to every purpose, though a man’s misery weighs heavily upon him.

¹⁴In 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.

²⁶But Elisha questioned him, “Did not my spirit go with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants?

²³A man takes joy in a fitting reply—and how good is a timely word!

²⁷Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

⁵Since his days are determined and the number of his months is with You, and since You have set limits that he cannot exceed,

¹³But Jesus replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by its roots.

⁷At any time I might announce that a nation or kingdom will be uprooted, torn down, and destroyed.

⁸But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring.

²¹A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

⁴But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,

¹Come, let us return to the Lord. For He has torn us to pieces, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bind up our wounds.

²After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His presence.

⁶The Lord brings death and gives life; He brings down to Sheol and raises up.

⁴Thus Jeremiah was to say to Baruch: “This is what the Lord says: Throughout the land I will demolish what I have built and uproot what I have planted.

²⁸Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, to demolish, destroy, and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the Lord.

³⁹See now that I am He; there is no God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.

²⁶who confirms the message of His servant and fulfills the counsel of His messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They will be rebuilt, and I will restore their ruins,’

¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

⁵For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.

⁹Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

²⁰Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

²¹A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

¹A song of ascents. When the Lord restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers.

²Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

⁵Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.

⁶He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.

²⁵They destroyed the cities, and each man threw stones on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up every spring and cut down every good tree. Only Kir-haraseth was left with stones in place, but men with slings surrounded it and attacked it as well.

²⁷At sunset Joshua ordered that they be taken down from the trees and thrown into the cave in which they had hidden. Then large stones were placed against the mouth of the cave, and the stones are there to this day.

³and command them: ‘Take up for yourselves twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing, carry them with you, and set them down in the place where you spend the night.’”

⁴So Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,

¹⁶Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the aged, gather the children, even those nursing at the breast. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.

⁴“There is no common bread on hand,” the priest replied, “but there is some consecrated bread—provided that the young men have kept themselves from women.”

⁵David answered, “Women have indeed been kept from us, as is usual when I set out. And the bodies of the young men are holy even on common missions. How much more so today!”

¹⁷They took Absalom, cast him into a large pit in the forest, and piled a huge mound of stones over him. Meanwhile, all the Israelites fled, each to his home.

¹⁸During his lifetime, Absalom had set up for himself a pillar in the King’s Valley, for he had said, “I have no son to preserve the memory of my name.” So he gave the pillar his name, and to this day it is called Absalom’s Monument.

⁷But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.

⁸More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

²⁴For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

²⁵What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet lose or forfeit his very self?

³⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and for the gospel will save it.

³⁶What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?

²⁵For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

²⁶What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

²⁸Peter began to say to Him, “Look, we have left everything and followed You.”

²⁹“Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the gospel

²⁶But Elisha questioned him, “Did not my spirit go with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants?

⁵Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.

¹³Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.

¹³he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.

¹⁴For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows if perhaps you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

²⁸Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it upon him.

²⁰For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

⁸Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.

⁹Open your mouth, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the poor and needy.

²⁵Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her

²⁸In the same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.

²⁹Indeed, no one ever hated his own body, but he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church.

²⁶“If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be My disciple.

⁴But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side, and there is no adversary or crisis.

²Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to confront him and said to King Jehoshaphat, “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Because of this, the wrath of the Lord is upon you.

²¹Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord, and detest those who rise against You?

³What does a man gain from all his labor, at which he toils under the sun?

²³There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

¹⁶This too is a grievous affliction: Exactly as a man is born, so he will depart. What does he gain as he toils for the wind?

²²For what does a man get for all the toil and striving with which he labors under the sun?

²³Indeed, all his days are filled with grief, and his task is sorrowful; even at night, his mind does not rest. This too is futile.

²⁶What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?

¹¹Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

¹³And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a miserable task God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them!

¹⁴I have seen all the things that are done under the sun, and have found them all to be futile, a pursuit of the wind.

¹⁹By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

²⁶To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

⁹Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

⁸nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.

³³O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!

¹⁹For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

²⁰For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.

⁷Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?

¹⁷I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.

⁹the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.

³⁷The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”

³Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

²²I 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?

¹⁸Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and ready to share,

¹⁵Make sure that no one repays evil for evil. Always pursue what is good for one another and for all people.

¹⁶Rejoice at all times.

³⁵In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

⁴Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

⁵Let your gentleness be apparent to all. The Lord is near.

⁷Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God has already approved your works:

²⁴Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.

²¹They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.

²²No longer will they build houses for others to inhabit, nor plant for others to eat. For as is the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will fully enjoy the work of their hands.

²For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.

¹⁸Here is what I have seen to be good and fitting: to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in all the labor one does under the sun during the few days of life that God has given him—for this is his lot.

¹⁹Furthermore, God has given riches and wealth to every man, and He has enabled him to enjoy them, to accept his lot, and to rejoice in his labor. This is a gift from God.

³⁰You will be pledged in marriage to a woman, but another man will violate her. You will build a house but will not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but will not enjoy its fruit.

³¹Your ox will be slaughtered before your eyes, but you will not eat any of it. Your donkey will be taken away and not returned to you. Your flock will be given to your enemies, and no one will save you.

¹⁷Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, with whom there is no change or shifting shadow.

¹¹The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the purposes of His heart to all generations.

³⁶For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

³⁹But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God.”

⁶Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you and prove you a liar.

²in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.

⁹What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

¹⁰Is there a case where one can say, “Look, this is new”? It has already existed in the ages before us.

¹⁰Whatever exists was named long ago, and it is known what man is; but he cannot contend with one stronger than he.

¹Again I looked, and I considered all the oppression taking place under the sun. I saw the tears of the oppressed, and they had no comforter; the power lay in the hands of their oppressors, and there was no comforter.

⁸If you see the oppression of the poor and the denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not be astonished at the matter; for one official is watched by a superior, and others higher still are over them.

⁹In the letters she wrote: “Proclaim a fast and give Naboth a seat of honor among the people.

¹⁰But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify, ‘You have cursed both God and the king!’ Then take him out and stone him to death.”

¹For the choirmaster. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A Miktam of David. Do you indeed speak justly, O rulers? Do you judge uprightly, O sons of men?

²No, in your hearts you devise injustice; with your hands you mete out violence on the earth.

³Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit here to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck.”

²“How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah

³Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; uphold the rights of the afflicted and oppressed.

¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad.

¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, along with every hidden thing, whether good or evil.

¹To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:

²⁷For the Son of Man will come in His Father’s glory with His angels, and then He will repay each one according to what he has done.

⁹before the Lord, for He comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.

⁵But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁶God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”

²²I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before You.

¹²But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish.

²⁷Just as man is appointed to die once, and after that to face judgment,

¹²These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed.

¹⁷And to Adam He said: “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you; through toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

¹⁸Both thorns and thistles it will yield for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

²³What if He did this to make the riches of His glory known to the vessels of His mercy, whom He prepared in advance for glory—

¹²But a man, despite his wealth, cannot endure; he is like the beasts that perish.

²⁰A man who has riches without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

¹⁰But a man dies and is laid low; he breathes his last, and where is he?

¹¹As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dry,

¹⁴The wise man has eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. Yet I also came to realize that one fate overcomes them both.

⁴⁷Remember the briefness of my lifespan! For what futility You have created all men!

⁴⁸What man can live and never see death? Can he deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah

²⁰So my heart began to despair over all the labor that I had done under the sun.

²¹When there is a man who has labored with wisdom, knowledge, and skill, and he must give his portion to a man who has not worked for it, this too is futile and a great evil.

¹⁹By the sweat of your brow you will eat your bread, until you return to the ground—because out of it were you taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

¹⁵all flesh would perish together and mankind would return to the dust.

⁷before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

¹³After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was;

⁹Please remember that You molded me like clay. Would You now return me to dust?

¹⁰Did You not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese?

⁹As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up.

⁷before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.

³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am.

¹For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.

²²One day the beggar died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. And the rich man also died and was buried.

²³In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham from afar, with Lazarus by his side.

²³I am torn between the two. I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better indeed.

⁸We are confident, then, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

²⁴Nothing is better for a man than to eat and drink and enjoy his work. I have also seen that this is from the hand of God.

¹¹He 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.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,

⁷Since no one knows what will happen, who can tell him what is to come?

¹²For 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?

¹⁴Yet the fool multiplies words. No one knows what is coming, and who can tell him what will come after him?

⁹Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.