Ecclesiastes 3:12-22

Enjoy Life in the Present

3:12 I have concluded that there is nothing better for people

than to be happy and to enjoy

themselves as long as they live,

3:13 and also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil,

for these things are a gift from God.

God’s Sovereignty

3:14 I also know that whatever God does will endure forever;

nothing can be added to it, and nothing taken away from it.

God has made it this way, so that men will fear him.

3:15 Whatever exists now has already been, and whatever will be has already been;

for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.

The Problem of Injustice and Oppression

3:16 I saw something else on earth:

In the place of justice, there was wickedness,

and in the place of fairness, there was wickedness.

3:17 I thought to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked;

for there is an appropriate time for every activity,

and there is a time of judgment for every deed.

3:18 I also thought to myself, “It is for the sake of people,

so God can clearly show them that they are like animals.

3:19 For the fate of humans and the fate of animals are the same:

As one dies, so dies the other; both have the same breath.

There is no advantage for humans over animals,

for both are fleeting.

3:20 Both go to the same place,

both come from the dust,

and to dust both return.

3:21 Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward,

and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

3:22 So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work,

because that is their reward;

for who can show them what the future holds?