Study Desk

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a ^(C1)time for every matter under heaven—

A time to give birth and a ^(C1)time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted.

A ^(C1)time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.

A time to ^(C1)weep and a time to ^(C2)laugh; A time to mourn and a time to ^(C3)dance.

A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to ^(C1)be silent and a time to speak.

A time to love and a time to ^(C1)hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

^(C1)What benefit is there for the worker from that in which he labors?

I have seen the ^(C1)task which God has given the sons of mankind with which to ^(F1)occupy themselves.

He has ^(C1)made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, without the possibility that mankind ^(C2)will find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

I know that there is ^(C1)nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime;

moreover, that every person who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—this is the ^(C1)gift of God.

I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it. And God has so worked, that people will ^(F1)(C1)fear Him.

^(C1)That which is, is what has already been, and that which will be has already been; and God ^(F1)seeks what has passed by.

Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is ^(C1)wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

I said ^(F1)to myself, "^(C1)God will judge the righteous and the wicked," for a ^(C2)time for every matter and for every deed ^(F2)is there.

I said ^(F1)to myself regarding the sons of mankind, "God is testing them in order for them to see that they are as ^(C1)animals, they to themselves."

^(C1)For the fate of the sons of mankind and the fate of animals ^(F1)is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath, and there is no advantage for mankind over animals, for all is futility.

All go to the same place. All came from the ^(C1)dust and all return to the dust.

Who knows that the ^(C1)spirit of the sons of mankind ascends upward and the spirit of the animal descends downward to the earth?

I have seen that ^(C1)nothing is better than when a person is happy in his activities, for that is his ^(F1)lot. For who will bring him to see ^(C2)what will occur after him?