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OEB ECC Chapter 3

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3 Everything has its reason appointed,

And every affair under heaven has its time.

2 A time to be born,

And a time to die.

A time to plant,

And a time to uproot.

3 A time to slay,

And a time to heal.

A time to tear down,

And a time to build up.

4 A time to weep,

And a time to laugh.

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance.

5 A time to scatter stones,

And a time to clear them away.

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain.

6 A time to seek,

And a time to lose.

A time to preserve,

And a time to throw away.

7 A time to tear,

And a time to sew.

A time to be silent,

And a time to speak.

8 A time to love,

And a time to hate.

A time for war,

And a time for peace.

10 What does the worker gain by all his toil (thought I) as I looked at the tasks that God has assigned to men to busy themselves with? 11 It is a beautiful orfer that He has established– evrything at its appointed time. Besides, He has planted in the human heart (the instinct for) eternity; only men cannot discern the whole range – from begin- ning to end – of the work which God is carrying on. 12 I am convinced that the only satisfaction that can be theirs is to be happy and prosperous, while 13 they live. Besides, it is God’s own gift, when a man is priviledged to eat, drink, and experience happiness in all his work.

14 I am convinced that all that God does is eternal; it is capable neither of increase nor of diminution: and God has ordained this, in order to inspire men with reverence.

15 Whatever is, has happened already; and what is yet to happen, already is: for that which has drifted (into the past) God seeketh out again.

The Futility of Hoping for the Redress of Injustice in Some Future World

16 Once more, in the course of my observation under the sun, I saw that, in the place where judgments were delivered, there was injustice – yes, injustice in the very place where justice should have been administered. 17 I said to myself, Yes, but God will judge the just and the unjust: for He hath appointed a time for every matter and for every act. 18 I said to myself, It is for men’s sake, that God may show them in their true light, and lead them 19 to see that they are but beasts. For the fate of men is the fate of beasts: their fate is one and the same. The one dies like the other. One breath is in them all, and man is no way superior to the 20 beasts. For all is but an illusion. All are on their way to the same place. All sprang from the dust, 21 and to the dust they shall all return. Who can tell whether the human spirit goes upward and the 22 spirit of the beast downward to the earth? So O recognised that there is no greater satisfaction for a mn that to be happy in his work – that is his reward; for, as to what is to happen after him– who can give him a glimpse of that?

Man’s Inhumanity to Man

◄ ECC 3 ► ║ ©

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