Ecclesiastes 3
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
9 What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
10 I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
11 He 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.
12 I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.
13 And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.
14 I 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.
15 That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.
16 And moreover I saw under the sun the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.
17 I 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.
18 I 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.
19 For 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.
20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.
21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?
22 Wherefore 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?
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Ecclesiastes 3.
How is the “time for every purpose” poem constructed?
The poem contains fourteen paired opposites—birth/death, plant/uproot, weep/laugh, war/peace. The structure creates a comprehensive literary sweep rather than a predictive timetable for events.
What does olam mean in Ecclesiastes 3:11?
עוֹלָם can refer to long duration, remote time, perpetuity, or an indefinite horizon. The difficult phrase about God placing olam in the human heart has produced different translations because both grammar and semantic range matter.
Explore the HebrewDoes Ecclesiastes 3 teach a fixed doctrine of the afterlife?
The chapter asks what humans can know about the fate of human and animal breath/spirit. Its questions belong to the book’s exploration of observable limits; later biblical texts should not be silently imported into the wording.
Research PathsCurated links for exploring this chapter 3
Language & Literature2
- Ecclesiastes 3 in Hebrew and EnglishMechon Mamre
Presents the Hebrew chapter beside an English translation. Particularly useful for examining the repeated words for time and appointed season, the twenty-eight paired activities, the difficult statement about *olam* in the human heart, and the chapter’s comparison between human and animal mortality.
- There Is a Time for Everything: Qoheleth’s Understanding of TimeCollège de France
University lecture devoted specifically to Ecclesiastes 3:1–9. It explains how the poem’s fourteen pairs encompass the range of human experience and express Qoheleth’s larger argument that people live within times they cannot control or fully understand.
Artifacts & Manuscripts1
- The Weighing of the Heart in the Book of the DeadBritish Museum
Illustrated papyrus showing the deceased person’s heart weighed against the feather of Maat while the result is recorded. Although Egyptian and not a source for Ecclesiastes, it gives readers a vivid ancient comparison for the chapter’s concern with judgment, mortality, human conduct, and the uncertain fate shared by humans and animals.
Public Discussion
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