New English Translation

Ecclesiastes 3:5-12 New English Translation (NET)

5. A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones;a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6. A time to search, and a time to give something up as lost;a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

7. A time to rip, and a time to sew;a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.

8. A time to love, and a time to hate;a time for war, and a time for peace.

9. What benefit can a worker gain from his toil?

10. I have observed the burdenthat God has given to people to keep them occupied.

11. God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time,but he has also placed ignorance in the human heartso that people cannot discover what God has ordained,from the beginning to the end of their lives.

12. I have concluded that there is nothing better for peoplethan to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live,