Ecclesiastes 3
What Happens in This Chapter
The chapter begins with a poem about times and seasons, pairing opposites like birth and death, weeping and laughing, war and peace. The Preacher then asks what a worker gains from his labor, and says God has made everything beautiful in its time and set a sense of forever in people's hearts, though no one can trace God's work from start to finish. He says there is nothing better than to be glad, do good, and enjoy food, drink, and work, calling this God's gift. He also tells of the wrong he saw in the place of judgment, and says people and animals share one breath and both return to dust.
Plain reading written for kids. Short sentences, everyday words, one idea at a time.
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
1There is a right time for everything. Every plan under the sky 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;
2There is a time to be born and a time to die. There is a time to plant and a time to pull plants up.
3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
3There is a time to kill and a time to heal. There is a time to tear down and a time to build.
4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
4There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad 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;
5There is a time to throw stones away. There is a time to gather stones up. There is a time to hug, and a time not to hug.
6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
6There is a time to look for something and a time to give it up. There is a time to keep things and a time to throw them out.
7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
7There is a time to tear cloth and a time to sew it. There is 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.
8There is a time to love and a time to hate. There is 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 get for 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 hard work God gave 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 made everything beautiful at the right time. He also put a sense of forever inside people's hearts. Even so, no one can understand all that God does, from start to finish.
The old English says God "set the world in their heart." It means God gave people a sense of forever, a feeling that there is more than right now.
12I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
12I know this. The best thing people can do is be glad and 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.
13Every person should eat and drink and enjoy their work. That 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. No one can add to it or take from it. God does this so people will stand in awe of him.
"Fear" here does not mean being scared. It means treating God with deep respect and wonder.
15That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
15What is here now has been here before. What is coming has already been. And God calls back what has already 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 also looked at life here on earth. In the place where judges should be fair, I saw wrong. In the place where people should do right, I saw 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 good people and bad people. There is a 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 tests people. He wants them to see 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.
19The same thing happens to people and to animals. One dies, and so does the other. They all have the same breath. A person is no better off than an animal. It all means so little.
The old English word is "vanity." It does not mean being proud. It means something empty and quick, like a puff of breath.
20All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
20They all go 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? Does a person's spirit go up? Does an animal's spirit go down into the ground?
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 than enjoying your own work. That is your share. No one can show you what will happen after you are gone.
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