Bible Verses about 'Ecclesiastes 3'
| For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. | For everything there is a season, and a time for every activity under heaven. |
| Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end. | He has made everything suitable for its time, and he has given men a sense of past and future, but they never have the slightest comprehension of what God has wrought from beginning to end. |
| So I concluded there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God. | I understand that man’s greatest happiness is to be glad and do well throughout his life. And when we eat and drink and find satisfaction in all our labors, this is a gift of God. |
| Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind. | Then I came to realize that all toil and skill in work derive from one person’s envy of another. This also is vanity and a chase after the wind. |
| Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. | Two are better than one: they earn a far greater reward for their toil. |
| If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. | And if one should fall, his companion will help him up. How pathetic is the man who is alone and falls and has no one to assist him to his feet. |
| A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. | And where a single man can be overcome, two together will be able to resist. A cord with three strands is not easily broken. |
| When you make a promise to God, don’t delay in following through, for God takes no pleasure in fools. Keep all the promises you make to him. | When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, for God has no pleasure in fools. Fulfill the vow you have made. |
| Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! | One who is covetous will never be satisfied with money, nor will the lover of wealth be content with gain. This too is vanity. |
| The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! | When riches increase, so do those who are eager to accumulate them, and those who have accumulated them must remain content simply to feast their eyes on them. |
| We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as on the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us. | Just as he came forth naked from his mother’s womb, so shall he depart, naked as he came, with nothing remaining from his labor that he can carry away in his hands. |
| Even so, I have noticed one thing, at least, that is good. It is good for people to eat, drink, and enjoy their work under the sun during the short life God has given them, and to accept their lot in life. | This is the conclusion I have reached: it is fitting for a man to eat and drink and find satisfaction in the results of his labors under the sun during the brief span of life that God has allotted him. |
| And it is a good thing to receive wealth from God and the good health to enjoy it. To enjoy your work and accept your lot in life—this is indeed a gift from God. | Moreover, the one to whom God grants wealth and possessions and the ability to enjoy them and to find contentment in his toil receives a gift from God. |
| Don’t long for “the good old days.” This is not wise. | Do not assert that the past was better than the present, for such a statement is not a sign of wisdom. |
| Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life. | When things are going well, be grateful for your blessings, and in times of adversity consider this: God has made both of them, so that we cannot predict with confidence what the future holds. |
| When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. | Because the sentence for committing an evil act is not carried out quickly, people’s hearts are prone to act wickedly. |
| So go ahead. Eat your food with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God approves of this! | Go forth, then. Eat your bread with joy and drink your wine with a cheerful heart, for God long ago approved what you do. |
| Wise words bring approval, but fools are destroyed by their own words. | The words of a wise man win favor, but a fool’s tongue is his undoing. |
| Just as you cannot understand the path of the wind or the mystery of a tiny baby growing in its mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the activity of God, who does all things. | Just as you do not know the path of the wind or how the body is formed in a woman’s womb, so you do not know the work of God, the Creator of all. |
| So refuse to worry, and keep your body healthy. But remember that youth, with a whole life before you, is meaningless. | Banish grief from your heart and ignore the sufferings of your body, for youth and the prime of life are fleeting. |
| Don’t let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, “Life is not pleasant anymore.” | Remember your Creator in the days of your youth before the bad times come and the years draw near when you will say, “I take no pleasure in them”. |
| That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. | This is the end of my teaching. All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for that is the responsibility of everyone. |
| The greater my wisdom, the greater my grief. To increase knowledge only increases sorrow. | For much wisdom can result in much sorrow, and those who increase their knowledge also increase their grief. |
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