| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: | 1For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. |
| 2A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; | 2A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest. |
| 3A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; | 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 cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance. |
| 5A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; | 5A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to turn away. |
| 6A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; | 6A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away. |
| 7A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; | 7A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be quiet and a time to speak. |
| 8A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace. | 8A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. |
| 9What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? | 9What do people really get for all their hard work? |
| 10I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. | 10I have seen the burden God has placed on us all. |
| 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. | 11Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. |
| 12I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, | 12So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. |
| 13and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God. | 13And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. |
| 14I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. | 14And I know that whatever God does is final. Nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God’s purpose is that people should fear him. |
| 15That which is has already been, And what is to be has already been; And God requires an account of what is past. | 15What is happening now has happened before, and what will happen in the future has happened before, because God makes the same things happen over and over again. The Injustices of Life |
| 16Moreover I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, Wickedness was there; And in the place of righteousness, Iniquity was there. | 16I also noticed that under the sun there is evil in the courtroom. Yes, even the courts of law are corrupt! |
| 17I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” | 17I said to myself, “In due season God will judge everyone, both good and bad, for all their deeds.” |
| 18I said in my heart, “Concerning the condition of the sons of men, God tests them, that they may see that they themselves are like animals.” | 18I also thought about the human condition—how God proves to people that they are like animals. |
| 19For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breath; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. | 19For people and animals share the same fate—both breathe and both must die. So people have no real advantage over the animals. How meaningless! |
| 20All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust. | 20Both go to the same place—they came from dust and they return to dust. |
| 21Who knows the spirit of the sons of men, which goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, which goes down to the earth? | 21For who can prove that the human spirit goes up and the spirit of animals goes down into the earth? |
| 22So I perceived that nothing is better than that a man should rejoice in his own works, for that is his heritage. For who can bring him to see what will happen after him? | 22So I saw that there is nothing better for people than to be happy in their work. That is our lot in life. And no one can bring us back to see what happens after we die. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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