Ecclesiastes 3 – NIV & CCB

New International Version

Ecclesiastes 3:1-22

A Time for Everything

1There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

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,

6a time to search and a time to give up,

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,

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? 10I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. 11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet3:11 Or also placed ignorance in the human heart, so that no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. 13That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of 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.

15Whatever is has already been,

and what will be has been before;

and God will call the past to account.3:15 Or God calls back 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.

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.”

18I also said to myself, “As for humans, God tests them so that they may see that they are like the 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 breath3:19 Or spirit; humans have no advantage over animals. Everything is meaningless. 20All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. 21Who knows if the human spirit rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down 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?

Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)

传道书 3:1-22

万物有时

1天下万物都有定期,

凡事都有定时。

2出生有时,死亡有时;

耕种有时,拔出有时;

3杀戮有时,医治有时;

拆毁有时,建造有时;

4哭泣有时,欢笑有时;

哀伤有时,雀跃有时;

5抛石有时,堆石有时3:5 抛石有时,堆石有时”意义不明,有犹太拉比说是“同房有时,分房有时”。

拥抱有时,避开有时;

6寻找有时,遗失有时;

保存有时,丢弃有时;

7撕裂有时,缝合有时;

沉默有时,发言有时;

8爱慕有时,憎恶有时;

争战有时,和好有时。

9那么,人劳碌做工有什么益处呢? 10我察觉上帝给世人重担,使他们忙碌不休。 11祂使万事各按其时变得美好,又把永恒的意识放在人心里,人却不能测透上帝从始至终的作为。 12我认识到,人生在世没有什么比欢乐、享受更好。 13人人都该吃喝、享受自己劳苦的成果,这是上帝的恩赐。 14我知道,上帝所做的都会存到永远,谁也不能增减。祂这样安排是叫人敬畏祂。 15现在的事并不是新事,未来的事也早已发生过。上帝使过去的事再次出现。

世间的不公

16我又看到日光之下,即使在公道和正义之地也有邪恶。 17我心里想:“不论义人或恶人,上帝必审判,因为万事万务都有受审之时。” 18我又想:“至于世人,上帝试验他们,是要他们知道自己与兽类无异。 19因为人和兽的际遇并无分别,两者都难逃一死,活着都靠一口气。人并不比兽强,一切都是虚空。 20两者都同归一处,出于尘土,也归于尘土。 21谁知道人的气息3:21 气息”或译“灵”,本节同。会向上升,兽的气息会降到地下呢?” 22因此,我觉得没有什么比人享受工作之乐更好,因为这是人当得的。人死后,谁能使他看到世间的事呢?