1. For everything there is a season and a time for every activity under heaven:
2. a time to give birth and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot what is planted;
3. a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear 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 scatter stones and a time to gather stones, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing;
6. a time to seek and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to discard;
7. a time to tear apart and a time to mend, a time to be 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 gain, then, does the laborer get with his toil?
10. I have seen the task that God has given to the children of men to keep them occupied.
11. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Moreover, He has set eternity in their heart—yet without the possibility that humankind can ever discover the work that God has done from the beginning to the end.
12. I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and enjoy themselves in their lifetime.