Ecclesiastes 3
22 verses
The Preacher declares that there is a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born and to die, to plant and uproot, to weep and laugh, to wage war and embrace peace. God has made everything beautiful in its time, yet He has also planted eternity in the human heart, leaving mortals unable fully to comprehend His work from beginning to end. The Preacher observes that God will bring all acts into judgment. This chapter pivots from individual despair toward a more nuanced theological vision acknowledging divine sovereignty and purpose. The famous poem of seasons constitutes one of Scripture's most poetic affirmations of God's providential ordering, suggesting that apparent meaninglessness reflects human limitation rather than genuine meaninglessness. Literary parallelism and the symmetry of paired opposites (birth/death, planting/uprooting) create a sense of cosmic balance and divine orchestration. Theologically, the passage introduces the hidden design underlying earthly chaos—what humans cannot fully perceive, God comprehends completely. The reference to eternity placed in human hearts hints at a transcendent dimension beyond 'under the sun,' suggesting that meaning may lie not in earthly accomplishment but in alignment with God's eternal purposes and in the fear-based obedience emphasized in closing verses.
VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER
1
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
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Reading the Psalms alongside this gives a fuller picture of what the author was experiencing — both the anguish and the ...
2
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
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3
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
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It implies covenant loyalty, steadfast love that never wavers.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful ...
4
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
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5
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
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6
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
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7
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
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8
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
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9
What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
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10
I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
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God is faithful in every circumstance.. The imagery here is agricultural — the original audience would have immediately ...
11
He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
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12
I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
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13
And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
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14
I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
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15
That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
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16
And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
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17
I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
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18
I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
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The promise here is not conditional on our strength but on His character.. I love how this passage doesn't shy away from...
19
For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
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20
All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
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21
Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
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22
Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
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