1 There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven:
2 A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting what has been planted.
3 A time for killing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building.
4 A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing.
5 A time for throwing stones away, a time for gathering them; a time for embracing, a time to refrain from embracing.
6 A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for discarding.
7 A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time for keeping silent, a time for speaking.
8 A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peace.
9 What do people gain from the efforts they make?
10 I contemplate the task that God gives humanity to labour at.
11 All that he does is apt for its time; but although he has given us an awareness of the passage of time, we can grasp neither the beginning nor the end of what God does.
12 I know there is no happiness for a human being except in pleasure and enjoyment through life.
13 And when we eat and drink and find happiness in all our achievements, this is a gift from God.
14 I know that whatever God does will be for ever. To this there is nothing to add, from this there is nothing to subtract, and the way God acts inspires dread.
15 What is, has been already, what will be, is already; God seeks out anyone who is persecuted.
16 Again I observe under the sun: crime is where justice should be, the criminal is where the upright should be.
17 And I think to myself: the upright and the criminal will both be judged by God, since there is a time for every thing and every action here.
18 I think to myself: where human beings are concerned, this is so that God can test them and show them that they are animals.
19 For the fate of human and the fate of animal is the same: as the one dies, so the other dies; both have the selfsame breath. Human is in no way better off than animal -- since all is futile.
20 Everything goes to the same place, everything comes from the dust, everything returns to the dust.
21 Who knows if the human spirit mounts upward or if the animal spirit goes downward to the earth?
22 I see there is no contentment for a human being except happiness in achievement; such is the lot of a human beings. No one can tell us what will happen after we are gone.
Versículos relacionados com Ecclesiastes, 3:
Ecclesiastes 3 is a chapter that deals with the duality of life and time, showing that there is a right time for everything under heaven, such as born, dying, planting, loving, hating, crying, laughing, among other things. Some of the topics covered are the transience of life, the inevitability of death and the importance of taking advantage of every moment.
Psalm 90:12: "Teach us to tell our days that our heart reaches wisdom." The psalmist asks God to teach him how to tell his days so that he can live wise and consciously, recognizing the brevity of life.
James 4:14: "Do you don't even know what will happen to you tomorrow! What is your life? You are like the fog that appears for a little time and then dissipates." The apostle James also highlights the brevity of life and its uncertainty, remembering that human life is like a fog that disappears rapidly.
Hebrews 9:27: "And just as men are ordered to die once, after this, judgment." The author of Hebrews emphasizes that death is inevitable and that everyone will have to account for God in the Last Judgment.
Psalm 39:4: "Make me know, Lord, my end, and what is the measure of my days, so that I know how much I am fragile." The psalmist cries to God to show him the brevity of life and his fragility, recognizing that his existence is finite and needs to enjoy every moment.
Matthew 6:34: "Therefore, don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring your own concerns. Your own evil is enough every day." Jesus teaches that we should live one day at a time, without worrying excessively about the future, but taking advantage of the present.
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