1 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what 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 throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
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 throw away;
7 a time to tear, 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 for war, and a time for peace.
…
11 He has made everything suitable for its time;
moreover he has put a sense of past and future into their minds,
yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.
12 I know that there is nothing better for them
than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live;
13 moreover, it is God's gift that all should eat and drink and take pleasure in all their toil.
14 I know that whatever God does endures forever;
nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it;
God has done this, so that all should stand in awe before him.
15 That which is, already has been;
that which is to be, already is;
and God seeks out what has gone by.