| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: | 1For everything there is an appointed time, and an appropriate time for every activity on earth: |
| 2a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, | 2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted; |
| 3a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, | 3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; |
| 4a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, | 4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. |
| 5a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, | 5A time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; |
| 6a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, | 6A time to search, and a time to give something up as lost; a time to keep, and a time to throw away; |
| 7a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, | 7A time to rip, and a time to sew; a time to keep silent, and a time to speak. |
| 8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. | 8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. |
| 9What do workers gain from their toil? | 9What benefit can a worker gain from his toil? |
| 10I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. | 10I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied. |
| 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. | 11God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time, but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained, from the beginning to the end of their lives. |
| 12I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. | 12I have concluded that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to enjoy themselves as long as they live, |
| 13That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil--this is the gift of God. | 13and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil, for these things are a gift from God. |
| 14I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. | 14I also know that whatever God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it. God has made it this way, so that men will fear him. |
| 15Whatever is has already been, and what will be has been before; and God will call the past to account. | 15Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been; for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past. |
| 16And I saw something else under the sun: In the place of judgment--wickedness was there, in the place of justice--wickedness was there. | 16I saw something else on earth: In the place of justice, there was wickedness, and in the place of fairness, there was wickedness. |
| 17I said to myself, "God will bring into judgment both the righteous and the wicked, for there will be a time for every activity, a time to judge every deed." | 17I thought to myself, "God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment for every deed. |
| 18I also said to myself, "As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the animals. | 18I also thought to myself, "It is for the sake of people, so God can clearly show them that they are like animals. |
| 19Surely the fate of human beings is like that of the animals; the same fate awaits them both: As one dies, so dies the other. All have the same breath; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. | 19For the fate of humans and the fate of animals are the same: As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath. There is no advantage for humans over animals, for both are fleeting. |
| 20All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. | 20Both go to the same place, both come from the dust, and to dust both return. |
| 21Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" | 21Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal's spirit descends into the earth? |
| 22So I saw that there is nothing better for a person than to enjoy their work, because that is their lot. For who can bring them to see what will happen after them? | 22So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work, because that is their reward; for who can show them what the future holds? |
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