Ecclesiastes/Qohelet 3

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 There is a season for everything, a time for every occupation under heaven:	1 All things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven.
2 A time for giving birth, a time for dying; a time for planting, a time for uprooting what has been planted.	2 A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted.
3 A time for kil ing, a time for healing; a time for knocking down, a time for building.	3 A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time to build.
4 A time for tears, a time for laughter; a time for mourning, a time for dancing.	4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance.
5 A time for throwing stones away, a time for gathering them; a time for embracing, a time to refrain fromembracing.	5 A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces.
6 A time for searching, a time for losing; a time for keeping, a time for discarding.	6 A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away.
7 A time for tearing, a time for sewing; a time for keeping silent, a time for speaking.	7 A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak.
8 A time for loving, a time for hating; a time for war, a time for peace.	8 A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace.
9 What do people gain from the efforts they make?	9 What hath man more of his labour?
10 I contemplate the task that God gives humanity to labour at.	10 I have seen the trouble, which God hath given the sons of men to be exercised in it.
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.	11 He hath made all things good in their time, and hath delivered the world to their consideration, so that man cannot flnd out the work which God hath made from the beginning to the end.
12 I know there is no happiness for a human being except in pleasure and enjoyment through life.	12 And I have known that there was no better thing than to rejoice, and to do well in this life.
13 And when we eat and drink and find happiness in all our achievements, this is a gift from God.	13 For every man that eateth and drinketh, and seeth good of his labour, this is the gift of God.
14 I know that whatever God does wil be for ever. To this there is nothing to add, from this there isnothing to subtract, and the way God acts inspires dread.	14 I have learned that all the works which God hath made, continue for ever: we cannot add any thing, nor take away from those things which God hath made that he may be feared.
15 What is, has been already, what will be, is already; God seeks out anyone who is persecuted.	15 That which hath been made, the same continueth: the things that shall be, have already been: and God restoreth that which is past.
16 Again I observe under the sun: crime is where justice should be, the criminal is where the uprightshould be.	16 I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity.
17 And I think to myself: the upright and the criminal will both be judged by God, since there is a time forevery thing and every action here.	17 And I said in my heart: God shall judge both the just and the wicked, and then shall be the time of every thing.
18 I think to myself: where human beings are concerned, this is so that God can test them and show themthat they are animals.	18 I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would prove them, and shew them to be like beasts.
19 For the fate of human and the fate of animal is the same: as the one dies, so the other dies; both havethe selfsame breath. Human is in no way better off than animal -- since al is futile.	19 Therefore the death of man, and of beasts is one, and the condition of them both is equal: as man dieth, so they also die: all things breathe alike, and man hath nothing more than beast: all things are subject to vanity.
20 Everything goes to the same place, everything comes from the dust, everything returns to the dust.	20 And all things go to one place: of earth they were made, and into earth they return together.
21 Who knows if the human spirit mounts upward or if the animal spirit goes downward to the earth?	21 Who knoweth if the spirit of the children of Adam ascend upward, and if the spirit of the beasts descend downward?
22 I see there is no contentment for a human being except happiness in achievement; such is the lot of ahuman beings. No one can tel us what wil happen after we are gone.	22 And I have found that nothing is better than for a man to rejoice in his work, and that this is his portion. For who shall bring him to know the things that shall be after him?