Ecclesiastes 3

lakkol zeman ve'et lekhol-khefets takhat hashamayim

A season is set for everything, a time for every experience under heaven:

et laledet ve'et lamut et lata'at ve'et la'aqor natua

A time for birthing and a time for dying, A time for planting and a time for uprooting the planted;

et laharog ve'et lirpo et lifrots ve'et livnot

A time for slaying and a time for healing, A time for tearing down and a time for building up;

et livkot ve'et liskhoq et sefod ve'et reqod

A time for weeping and a time for laughing, A time for wailing and a time for dancing;

et lehashlikh avanim ve'et kenos avanim et lakhavoq ve'et lirkhoq mekhabbeq

A time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones, A time for embracing and a time for shunning embraces;

et levaqqesh ve'et le'abbed et lishmor ve'et lehashlikh

A time for seeking and a time for losing, A time for keeping and a time for discarding;

et liqroa ve'et litpor et lakhashot ve'et ledabber

A time for ripping and a time for sewing, A time for silence and a time for speaking;

et le'ehov ve'et lisno et milkhamah ve'et shalom

A time for loving and a time for hating; A time for war and a time for peace.

mah-yyitron ha'oseh ba'asher hu amel

What value, then, can those who labor get from what they earn?

ra'iti et-ha'inyan asher natan elohim livne ha'adam la'anot bo

I have observed the business that God gave humankind to be concerned with:

et-hakkol asah yafeh ve'itto gam et-ha'olam natan belibbam mibbeli asher lo-yimtsa ha'adam et-hamma'aseh asher-asah ha'elohim merosh ve'ad-sof

[God] brings everything to pass precisely at its time; [God] also puts eternity in their mind, but without people ever guessing, from first to last, all the things that God brings to pass.

yadati ki en tov bam ki im-lismoakh vela'asot tov bekhayyayw

Thus I realized that the only worthwhile thing there is for them is to enjoy themselves and do what is good in their lifetime;

vegam kol-ha'adam sheyyokhal veshatah vera'ah tov bekhol-amalo mattat elohim hi

also, that whenever people do eat and drink and get enjoyment out of all their wealth, it is a gift of God.

yadati ki kol-asher ya'aseh ha'elohim hu yihyeh le'olam alayw en lehosif umimmennu en ligroa veha'elohim asah sheyyiru millefanayw

I realized, too, that whatever God has brought to pass will recur evermore: Nothing can be added to it And nothing taken from it— and God has brought to pass that mortals feel reverence.

mah-shehayah kevar hu va'asher lihyot kevar hayah veha'elohim yevaqqesh et-nirdaf

What is occurring occurred long since, And what is to occur occurred long since: and God seeks the pursued.

ve'od ra'iti takhat hashamesh meqom hammishpat shammah haresha umeqom hatsedeq shammah harasha

And, indeed, I have observed under the sun: Alongside justice there is wickedness, Alongside righteousness there is wickedness.

amarti ani belibbi et-hatsaddiq ve'et-harasha yishpot ha'elohim ki-et lekhol-khefets ve'al kol-hamma'aseh sham

I mused: “God will doom both righteous and wicked, for there is a time for every experience and for every happening.”

amarti ani belibbi al-divrat bene ha'adam levaram ha'elohim velirot shehem-behemah hemmah lahem

So I decided, as regards human beings, to dissociate them [from] the divine beings and to face the fact that they are animals.

ki miqreh vene-ha'adam umiqreh habbehemah umiqreh ekhad lahem kemot zeh ken mot zeh veruakh ekhad lakkol umotar ha'adam min-habbehemah ayin ki hakkol havel

For in respect of the fate of humans and the fate of animals, they have one and the same fate: as the one dies so dies the other, and both have the same lifebreath; humans have no superiority over animals, since both amount to nothing.

hakkol holekh el-maqom ekhad hakkol hayah min-he'afar vehakkol shav el-he'afar

Both go to the same place; both came from dust and both return to dust.

mi yodea ruakh bene ha'adam ha'olah hi lema'elah veruakh habbehemah hayyoredet hi lemattah la'arets

Who knows if the lifebreath of humans does rise upward and if the breath of animals does sink down into the earth?

vera'iti ki en tov me'asher yismakh ha'adam bema'asayw ki-hu khelqo ki mi yevi'ennu lirot bemeh sheyyihyeh akharayw

I saw that there is nothing better for people than to enjoy their possessions, since that is their portion. For who can enable them to see what will happen afterward?