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Text -- Ecclesiastes 3:1-11 (NET)
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A Time for All Events in Life
3:1 For everything there is an appointed time , and an appropriate time for every activity on earth :
3:2 A time to be born , and a time to die ; a time to plant , and a time to uproot what was planted ;
3:3 A time to kill , and a time to heal ; a time to break down , and a time to build up ;
3:4 A time to weep , and a time to laugh ; a time to mourn , and a time to dance .
3:5 A time to throw away stones , and a time to gather stones ; a time to embrace , and a time to refrain from embracing ;
3:6 A time to search , and a time to give something up as lost ; a time to keep , and a time to throw away ;
3:7 A time to rip , and a time to sew ; a time to keep silent , and a time to speak .
3:8 A time to love , and a time to hate ; a time for war , and a time for peace .
Man is Ignorant of God’s Timing
3:9 What benefit can a worker gain from his toil ?
3:10 I have observed the burden that God has given to people to keep them occupied .
3:11 God has made everything fit beautifully in its appropriate time , but he has also placed ignorance in the human heart so that people cannot discover what God has ordained , from the beginning to the end of their lives.
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Names, People and Places, Dictionary Themes and Topics
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expand allCommentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes
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NET Notes: Ecc 3:2 In 3:2-8, Qoheleth uses fourteen sets of merisms (a figure using polar opposites to encompass everything in between, that is, totality), e.g., Deut 6:...
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NET Notes: Ecc 3:9 This rhetorical question is an example of negative affirmation, expecting a negative answer: “Man gains nothing from his toil!” (see E. W....
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