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3:1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 3:2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3:3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 3:4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 3:5 a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 3:6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; 3:7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 3:8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. 3:9 What gain have the workers from their toil? 3:10 I have seen the business that God has given to everyone to be busy with. 3:11 He has made everything suitable for its time; moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 3:12 I know that there is nothing better for them than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live; 3:13 moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil. 3:14 I know that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him. 3:15 That which is, already has been; that which is to be, already is; and God seeks out what has gone by. 3:16 Moreover I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, wickedness was there, and in the place of righteousness, wickedness was there as well. 3:17 I said in my heart, God will judge the righteous and the wicked, for he has appointed a time for every matter, and for every work. 3:18 I said in my heart with regard to human beings that God is testing them to show that they are but animals. 3:19 For the fate of humans and the fate of animals is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and humans have no advantage over the animals; for all is vanity. 3:20 All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. 3:21 Who knows whether the human spirit goes upward and the spirit of animals goes downward to the earth? 3:22 So I saw that there is nothing better than that all should enjoy their work, for that is their lot; who can bring them to see what will be after them?