| New International Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: | 1There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven-- |
| 2a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, | 2A time to give birth and a time to die; A time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted. |
| 3a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, | 3A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up. |
| 4a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, | 4A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance. |
| 5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, | 5A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing. |
| 6a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, | 6A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away. |
| 7a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, | 7A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak. |
| 8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. | 8A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace. |
| 9What do workers gain from their toil? | 9What profit is there to the worker from that in which he toils? |
| 10I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. | 10I have seen the task which God has given the sons of men with which to occupy themselves. |
| 11He 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. | 11He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end. |
| 12I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. | 12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one's lifetime; |
| 13That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil--this is the gift of God. | 13moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor-- it is the gift of God. |
| 14I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. | 14I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. |
| 15Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. | 15That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by. |
| 16And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment--wickedness was there, in the place of justice--wickedness was there. | 16Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. |
| 17I said to myself, "God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed." | 17I said to myself, "God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man," for a time for every matter and for every deed is there. |
| 18I also said to myself, "As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. | 18I said to myself concerning the sons of men, "God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts." |
| 19Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. | 19For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. |
| 20All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. | 20All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. |
| 21Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" | 21Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? |
| 22So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them? | 22I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him? |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
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