Old Testament

Ecclesiastes 3

Seasons, Justice, and Creaturely Limits

5 passages

Overview

Qoheleth catalogues the divinely ordered rhythm of opposing human experiences, confronts the corruption of earthly justice with confidence in God's coming judgment, reflects on the eternity inscribed in the human heart alongside the goodness of simple daily pleasures, and closes by setting human mortality before the reader as a divine pedagogy in humility.

Passages

1–8The Poem of Times and Seasons 9–11Eternity Inscribed in a Restless Heart 12–15The Good Life, the Fear of God, and the Permanence of His Works 16–17Wickedness in the Place of Justice and the Coming Divine Judgment 18–22Dust and Breath: The Creature Before God

Study Resources

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Ecclesiastes 3

¹For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:

²a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

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;

⁵a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

⁷a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

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

⁹What profit has he who works in that in which he labors? ¹⁰I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. ¹¹He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in their hearts, yet so that man can’t find out the work that God has done from the beginning even to the end. ¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice, and to do good as long as they live. ¹³Also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy good in all his labor, is the gift of God. ¹⁴I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it; and God has done it, that men should fear before him. ¹⁵That which is has been long ago, and that which is to be has been long ago. God seeks again that which is passed away.

¹⁶Moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. ¹⁷I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked; for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” ¹⁸I said in my heart, “As for the sons of men, God tests them, so that they may see that they themselves are like animals. ¹⁹For that which happens to the sons of men happens to animals. Even one thing happens to them. As the one dies, so the other dies. Yes, they have all one breath; and man has no advantage over the animals, for all is vanity. ²⁰All go to one place. All are from the dust, and all turn to dust again. ²¹Who knows the spirit of man, whether it goes upward, and the spirit of the animal, whether it goes downward to the earth?”

²²Therefore I saw that there is nothing better than that a man should rejoice in his works, for that is his portion; for who can bring him to see what will be after him?

Ecclesiastes 2 Ecclesiastes 4