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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>Ecclesiastes 3 ESV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/ecclesiastes/3.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/ecclesiastes/3-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ESV</a> > Ecclesiastes 3</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../ecclesiastes/2.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 2">◄</a> Ecclesiastes 3 <a href="../ecclesiastes/4.htm" title="Ecclesiastes 4">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">English Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/esv/nas/ecclesiastes/3.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div></a><div class="chap"><p class="heading">A Time for Everything</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:</p> <span class="block-indent"><p class="line-group"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">a time to be born, and a time to die;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">a time to kill, and a time to heal;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">a time to break down, and a time to build up;</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">a time to weep, and a time to laugh;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">a time to mourn, and a time to dance;</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">a time to seek, and a time to lose;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">a time to keep, and a time to cast away;</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">a time to tear, and a time to sew;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;</span><br /> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span><span class="ln-group">a time to love, and a time to hate;</span><br /><span class="ln-group">a time for war, and a time for peace.</span></p> <p class="heading">The God-Given Task</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>What gain has the worker from his toil? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.</p> <p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God seeks what has been driven away.<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Hebrew what has been pursued">a</a></sup></span></p> <p class="heading">From Dust to Dust</p><p class="regular"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is a time for every matter and for every work. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.<span class="footnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="The Hebrew term hebel can refer to a vapor or mere breath (see note on 1:2)">b</a></sup></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/ecclesiastes/3-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>So I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot. Who can bring him to see what will be after him?</p><A name="footnotes"></a><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="footnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">15</span> Hebrew <i><span class="catch-word">what has been</span> pursued</i><br /><span class="footnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">19</span> The Hebrew term <i language="Hebrew">hebel</i> can refer to a "vapor" or "mere breath" (see note on 1:2)<br /></span></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">ESV Text Edition® (2016).<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by <a href="http://www.crossway.org/home/esv/">Crossway Bibles</a>, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.<br /><br />The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) is adapted from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. 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