Atlas Biblica

    Ecclesiastes · 22 verses

    Ecclesiastes 3

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    Judgment and righteousness are named as places, and wickedness is found in both; the signposts have gone oddly crooked.

    A season for every strange thingvv. 1–8

    Everything arrives under heaven in its appointed season: birth beside death, planting beside uprooting, laughter beside tears, love beside hate, war beside peace. Even the stones receive their peculiar little appointment—there is a time to cast them away and a time to gather them together—though the stones are not told what they have done to deserve such administrative attention.

    What labour can holdvv. 9–15

    The worker's gain is questioned, while God gives everything its beauty in time and places eternity in human hearts. People cannot fathom the work from beginning to end, but they can rejoice, do good, eat, drink, and find satisfaction in labour. What God does endures forever; what exists has already been, and what will be has already been, with the past still summoned to account.

    The court, the beast, and the unanswered spiritvv. 16–22

    Under the sun, the places meant for judgment and righteousness both contain wickedness. The speaker says that God will judge, then says that the sons of men are tested so they may see that they are but beasts. Humans and animals share one fate, one breath, one destination, and the same return to dust; whether the human spirit rises while the animal spirit descends is left hanging in the air. The final portion returns to work as a man's lot, since no one can bring him to see what comes after him.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Eccl 3:1To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven:

    2. Eccl 3:2a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

    3. Eccl 3:3a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build,

    4. Eccl 3:4a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

    5. Eccl 3:5a time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

    6. Eccl 3:6a time to search and a time to count as lost, a time to keep and a time to discard,

    7. Eccl 3:7a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

    8. Eccl 3:8a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

    9. Eccl 3:9What does the worker gain from his toil?

    10. Eccl 3:10I have seen the burden that God has laid upon the sons of men to occupy them.

    11. Eccl 3:11He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men, yet they cannot fathom the work that God has done from beginning to end.

    12. Eccl 3:12I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good while they live,

    13. Eccl 3:13and also that every man should eat and drink and find satisfaction in all his labor—this is the gift of God.

    14. Eccl 3:14I know that everything God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it or taken from it. God does it so that they should fear Him.

    15. Eccl 3:15What exists has already been, and what will be has already been, for God will call to account what has passed.

    16. Eccl 3:16Furthermore, I saw under the sun that in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness.

    17. Eccl 3:17I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”

    18. Eccl 3:18I said to myself, “As for the sons of men, God tests them so that they may see for themselves that they are but beasts.”

    19. Eccl 3:19For the fates of both men and beasts are the same: As one dies, so dies the other—they all have the same breath. Man has no advantage over the animals, since everything is futile.

    20. Eccl 3:20All go to one place; all come from dust, and all return to dust.

    21. Eccl 3:21Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and the spirit of the animal descends into the earth?

    22. Eccl 3:22I have seen that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work, because that is his lot. For who can bring him to see what will come after him?

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 330 passages were voted onto 22 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 1Ecclesiastes 3:17I said in my heart, “God will judge the righteous and the wicked, since there is a time for every activity and every deed.”
    • 1Matthew 16:3and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but not the signs of the times.
    • 1Ecclesiastes 8:5–6Whoever keeps his command will come to no harm, and a wise heart knows the right time and procedure.
    • 11Romans 1:19–20For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
    • 11Romans 11:33O, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways!
    • 1Ecclesiastes 7:14In the day of prosperity, be joyful, but in the day of adversity, consider this: God has made one of these along with the other, so that a man cannot discover anything that will come after him.
    • 11Job 11:7Can you fathom the deep things of God or discover the limits of the Almighty?
    • 11Ecclesiastes 8:17I saw every work of God, and that a man is unable to comprehend the work that is done under the sun. Despite his efforts to search it out, he cannot find its meaning; even if the wise man claims to know, he is unable to comprehend.
    • 11Job 5:9the One who does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number.
    • 11Mark 7:37The people were utterly astonished and said, “He has done all things well! He makes even the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
    • 12 Kings 5:26But Elisha questioned him, “Did not my spirit go with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to accept money and clothing, olive groves and vineyards, sheep and oxen, menservants and maidservants?
    • 11Psalms 104:24How many are Your works, O LORD! In wisdom You have made them all; the earth is full of Your creatures.
    • 11Genesis 1:31And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
    • 1Proverbs 15:23A man takes joy in a fitting reply—and how good is a timely word!
    • 11Ecclesiastes 7:29Only this have I found: I have discovered that God made mankind upright, but they have sought out many schemes.”
    • 11Deuteronomy 32:4He is the Rock, His work is perfect; all His ways are just. A God of faithfulness without injustice, righteous and upright is He.

    Onward

    Keep reading

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