Ecclesiastes 3:1-17

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
9 What do workers gain from their toil?
10 I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race.
11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet[a] no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
12 I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.
13 That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God.
14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him.
15 Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account.[b]
16 And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment—wickedness was there, in the place of justice—wickedness was there.
17 I said to myself, “God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed.”

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Ecclesiastes 3:1-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO ECCLESIASTES 3

The general design of this chapter is to confirm what is before observed, the vanity and inconstancy of all things; the frailty of man, and changes respecting him; his fruitless toil and labour in all his works; that it is best to be content with present things, and cheerful in them, and thankful for them; that all comes from the hand of God; that such good men, who have not at present that joy that others have, may have it, since there is a time for it; and that sinners should not please themselves with riches gathered by them, since they may be soon taken from them, for there is a time for everything, Ec 3:1; of which there is an induction of particulars, Ec 3:2-8; so that though every thing is certain with God, nothing is certain with men, nor to be depended on, nor can happiness be placed therein; there is no striving against the providence of God, nor altering the course of things; the labour of man is unprofitable, and his travail affliction and vexation, Ec 3:9,10; and though all God's works are beautiful in their season, they are unsearchable to man, Ec 3:11; wherefore it is best cheerfully to enjoy the present good things of life, Ec 3:12,13; and be content; for the will and ways and works of God are unalterable, permanent, and perfect, Ec 3:14,15; and though wicked men may abuse the power reposed in them, and pervert public justice, they will be called to an account for it in the general judgment, for which there is a time set, Ec 3:16,17; and yet, such is the stupidity of the generality of men, that they have no more sense of death and judgment than the brutes, and live and die like them, Ec 3:18-21; wherefore it is best of all to make a right use of power and riches, or what God has given to men, for their own good and that of others, since they know not what shall be after them, Ec 3:22.

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Cross References 17

  • 1. ver 11,17; Ecclesiastes 8:6
  • 2. Isaiah 28:24
  • 3. S Deuteronomy 5:17
  • 4. S Esther 4:14; Amos 5:13
  • 5. S Ecclesiastes 1:3
  • 6. S Ecclesiastes 1:13
  • 7. S ver 1
  • 8. S Job 11:7; Ecclesiastes 8:17
  • 9. S Job 28:23; Romans 11:33
  • 10. Ecclesiastes 2:3
  • 11. Psalms 34:12
  • 12. S Deuteronomy 12:7,18; S Ecclesiastes 2:24; Ecclesiastes 5:19
  • 13. S Job 23:15; Ecclesiastes 5:7; Ecclesiastes 7:18; Ecclesiastes 8:12-13; James 1:17
  • 14. Ecclesiastes 6:10
  • 15. S Ecclesiastes 1:9
  • 16. S Job 19:29; Ecclesiastes 11:9; Ecclesiastes 12:14; Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6-8; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-7
  • 17. ver 1

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Or "also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that"
  • [b]. Or "God calls back the past"
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