Ecclesiastes is a wisdom book that questions the meaning of life and the value of human endeavors. The title 'Qoheleth' suggests one who assembles or teaches a congregation. Its canonicity was debated due to its skeptical tone but was accepted due to its orthodox conclusion of fearing God.
Ecclesiastes
Chapter 3
All things have their season, and all things under heaven continue during their interval.
A time to be born, and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pull up what was planted.
A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to tear down, and a time to build up.
A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
A time to gain, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away.
A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to be silent, and a time to speak.
A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace.
What more does a man have from his labor?
I have seen the affliction that God has given to the sons of men, so that they may be occupied by it.
He has made everything good in its time, and he has handed over the world to their disputes, yet man has not found the work that God has made from the beginning, even unto the end.
And I realize that there is nothing better than to rejoice, and to do well in this life.
For this is a gift from God: when a man eats and drinks, and sees the good of his labor.
I have learned that all the works that God has made continue on forever. We are not able to add anything to them, nor to take anything away. God has made these things, so that he may be feared.
What has been made, the same continues. What is future, has already existed. And God restores what has passed away.
I saw under the sun: instead of judgment, impiety; and instead of justice, iniquity.
And I said in my heart: “God will judge the just and the impious, and then the time for each matter shall be.”
I said in my heart, about the sons of men, that God would test them, and show them to be similar to wild beasts.
For this reason, one death is for man and for beasts, and their condition is equal. Just as a man dies, so they also die. All things breathe similarly, and man has nothing more than beast. All things are subject to emptiness.
And all things continue on to the same place. They were made from the earth, and they return to the earth, together.
Who knows if the spirit of the sons of Adam ascends upward, and if the spirit of the beasts descends downward?
And I have discovered that nothing is better than for a man to rejoice in his work. For this is his portion. And who will bring him along to know the things that will occur after him?