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3:1  There is an occasion for everything, and a time for every activity under heaven:
3:2  a time to give birth and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to uproot;
3:3  a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build;
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 stones and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace and a time to avoid embracing;
3:6  a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away;
3:7  a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to be silent 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 does the worker gain from his struggles?
3:10  I have seen the task that God has given the children of Adam to keep them occupied.
3:11  He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.
3:12  I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy the good life.
3:13  It is also the gift of God whenever anyone eats, drinks, and enjoys all his efforts.
3:14  I know that everything God does will last forever; there is no adding to it or taking from it. God works so that people will be in awe of him.
3:15  Whatever is, has already been, and whatever will be, already is. However, God seeks justice for the persecuted.
3:16  I also observed under the sun: there is wickedness at the place of judgment and there is wickedness at the place of righteousness.
3:17  I said to myself, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every work.”
3:18  I said to myself, “This happens so that God may test the children of Adam and they may see for themselves that they are like animals.”
3:19  For the fate of the children of Adam and the fate of animals is the same. As one dies, so dies the other; they all have the same breath. People have no advantage over animals since everything is futile.
3:20  All are going to the same place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.
3:21  Who knows if the spirits of the children of Adam go upward and the spirits of animals go downward to the earth?
3:22  I have seen that there is nothing better than for a person to enjoy his activities because that is his reward. For who can enable him to see what will happen after he dies?