Ecclesiastes 3 - Prayer Tents



Share: Select All button

Previous ChapterNext ChapterReduce Font SizeIncrease Font Size
Ecclesiastes 3
Good News Translation Help

Ecclesiastes 3

A Time for Everything

3Everything that happens in this world happens at the time God chooses.H2165H6256H2656H80642He sets the time for birth and the time for death, the time for planting and the time for pulling up,H6256H3205H6256H4191H6256H5193H6256H6131H51933the time for killing and the time for healing, the time for tearing down and the time for building.H6256H2026H6256H7495H6256H6555H6256H11294He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy, the time for mourning and the time for dancing,H6256H1058H6256H7832H6256H5594H6256H75405the time for making love and the time for not making love, the time for kissing and the time for not kissing.H6256H7993H68H6256H3664H68H3664H6256H2263H6256H7368H22636He sets the time for finding and the time for losing, the time for saving and the time for throwing away,H6256H1245H6256H6H6256H8104H6256H79937the time for tearing and the time for mending, the time for silence and the time for talk.H6256H7167H6256H8609H6256H2814H6256H16968He sets the time for love and the time for hate, the time for war and the time for peace.H6256H157H6256H8130H6256H4421H6256H79659What do we gain from all our work?H3504H6213H834H600110I know the heavy burdens that God has laid on us.H7200H6045H430H5414H1121H120H603111He has set the right time for everything. He has given us a desire to know the future, but never gives us the satisfaction of fully understanding what he does.H6213H3303H6256H5414H5769H3820H1097H120H4672H4639H430H6213H7218H549012So I realized that all we can do is be happy and do the best we can while we are still alive.H3045H2896H8055H6213H2896H241613All of us should eat and drink and enjoy what we have worked for. It is God's gift.H120H398H8354H7200H2896H5999H4991H43014I know that everything God does will last forever. You can't add anything to it or take anything away from it. And one thing God does is to make us stand in awe of him.H3045H430H6213H5769H369H3254H1639H430H6213H3372H644015Whatever happens or can happen has already happened before. God makes the same thing happen again and again.H3528H3528H430H1245H7291

Injustice in the World

16In addition, I have also noticed that in this world you find wickedness where justice and right ought to be.H7200H8121H4725H4941H7562H4725H6664H756217I told myself, "God is going to judge the righteous and the evil alike, because every thing, every action, will happen at its own set time."H559H3820H430H8199H6662H7563H6256H2656H463918I decided that God is testing us, to show us that we are no better than animals.H559H3820H1700H1121H120H430H1305H7200H1992H92919After all, the same fate awaits human beings and animals alike. One dies just like the other. They are the same kind of creature. A human being is no better off than an animal, because life has no meaning for either.H4745H1121H120H4745H929H259H4745H4194H4194H2088H259H7307H120H4195H929H189220They are both going to the same place - the dust. They both came from it; they will both go back to it.H1980H259H4725H6083H7725H6083H772521How can anyone be sure that the human spirit goes upward while an animal's spirit goes down into the ground?H3045H7307H1121H120H5927H4605H7307H929H3381H4295H77622So I realized then that the best thing we can do is enjoy what we have worked for. There is nothing else we can do. There is no way for us to know what will happen after we die.H7200H2896H120H8055H4639H2506H935H7200H310


Good News Translation. Scripture taken from the Good News Translation in Today’s English Version- Second Edition Copyright © 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission. More details.
Old Testament
  • 25. Lamentations (5)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 29. Joel (3)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 31. Obadiah (1)
  • 1
  • 34. Nahum (3)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 35. Habakkuk (3)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 36. Zephaniah (3)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 37. Haggai (2)
  • 1
  • 2

New Testament
  • 50. Philippians (4)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 51. Colossians (4)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 52. 1 Thessalonians (5)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 53. 2 Thessalonians (3)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 55. 2 Timothy (4)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 56. Titus (3)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 57. Philemon (1)
  • 1
  • 61. 2 Peter (3)
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 63. 2 John (1)
  • 1
  • 64. 3 John (1)
  • 1
  • 65. Jude (1)
  • 1
Please login to see history of your searches
Table of Contents
Hide Subtitles
Hide Footnotes
Spacing: 0 1 2 3
Verse Numbers Toggle
Strong Numbers Toggle
Info Language ArrowFull Screen ButtonReturn to top
Prayer Tents is a Christian mission organization that serves Christians around the world and their local bodies to make disciples ("evangelize") more effectively in their communities. Prayer Tents provides resources to enable Christians to form discipleship-focused small groups and make their gatherings known so that other "interested" people may participate and experience Christ in their midst. Our Vision is to make disciples in all nations through the local churches so that anyone seeking God can come to know Him through relationships with other Christians near them.

© Prayer Tents 2025.
Prayer Tents Facebook iconPrayer Tents Twitter iconPrayer Tents Youtube iconPrayer Tents Linkedin icon