Ecclesiastes
Chapter 3
The Teacher lists pairs of opposites and says there is a right time for each one: birth and death, weeping and laughing, war and peace. He then says God made everything fitting for its time, but people cannot see the whole picture of what God is doing. So the best a person can do is enjoy his food, his work, and his life, since that is a gift from God. He also notes that people and animals both die and return to dust, and no one can prove what comes after.
Plain reading written for preteens. Clear and complete, at about a fifth grade reading level.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
1There is a right time for everything. Every activity under heaven has its own season.
2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
2A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pull up what was planted.
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 something down, and a time to build.
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 together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
5A time to throw stones away, and a time to gather stones up. A time to hug someone, and a time to hold back.
6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
6A time to look for something, and a time to give it up as lost. A time to keep, and a time to throw away.
The KJV says "a time to get." The older sense is to search for or seek out something, not simply to gain it.
7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
7A time to tear cloth, and a time to sew it. A time to stay 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 hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
9So what does a worker really gain from all his hard work?
10I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
10I have seen the heavy load that God has given people to keep them busy.
11He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.
11God has made everything fitting for its own time. He has also put a sense of forever inside people. Even so, nobody can figure out all that God does, from start to finish.
The KJV says God "set the world in their heart." The Hebrew word here means something closer to eternity or the long stretch of time, not the planet.
12I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
12I know there is nothing better for people than to be glad and to do good while they live.
13And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
13And every person should eat and drink and find joy in all his work. This is a gift from God.
14I know that, whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever: nothing can be put to it, nor any thing taken from it: and God doeth it, that men should fear before him.
14I know that whatever God does lasts forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken away. God does this so that people will stand in awe of him.
"Fear before him" here means deep respect and awe, not being scared.
15That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
15What is happening now has happened before. What will happen has already happened. God calls back what has gone by.
16And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
16I saw something else here on earth. In the courts, where justice belongs, I found wickedness. In the place of right, I found wrong.
17I said in mine 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, "God will judge both the good person and the wicked one. There is a set time for every plan and every deed."
18I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
18I said to myself, "God is testing people so they can see for themselves that they are like animals."
19For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
19What happens to people happens to animals too. The same thing happens to both. One dies, and so does the other. They all breathe the same air. A person is no better off than an animal. It is all empty.
"Vanity" in Ecclesiastes does not mean being proud of your looks. It means empty, or a puff of breath that you cannot hold on to.
20All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
20Everyone goes to the same place. All come from dust, and all go back to dust.
21Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
21Who really knows if the spirit of a person goes up, and the spirit of an animal goes down into the earth?
22Wherefore I perceive that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his own works; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?
22So I see that nothing is better for a person than to enjoy his own work. That is his share. Nobody can bring him back to see what happens after he is gone.
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