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 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.