Ecclesiastes 3:11-22

God Set Eternity in the Heart of Man

¹¹He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.

¹²I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime; ¹³moreover, that every man who eats and drinks sees good in all his labor—it is the gift of God. ¹⁴I know that everything God does will remain forever; there is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should fear Him. ¹⁵That which is has been already and that which will be has already been, for God seeks what has passed by.

¹⁶Furthermore, I have seen under the sun that in the place of justice there is wickedness and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. ¹⁷I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there. ¹⁸I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.” ¹⁹For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. ²⁰All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. ²¹Who knows that the breath of man ascends upward and the breath of the beast descends downward to the earth? ²²I have seen that nothing is better than that man should be happy in his activities, for that is his lot. For who will bring him to see what will occur after him?