Bible Chapter Summary
Ecclesiastes 3 Summary
Times and Seasons Ordained by God
There is a divinely appointed season and time for every purpose under heaven—birth and death, planting and plucking, killing and healing, building and breaking down, weeping and laughing, mourning and dancing, gaining and losing, speaking and silence, war and peace. God has made everything beautiful in its time and set the world in men's hearts, yet none can comprehend His work from beginning to end. The Preacher concludes that the only good is for a man to rejoice and do good in his life, eating, drinking, and enjoying his labor as God's gift, though God ultimately judges the righteous and wicked.
Key themes
Key verses
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”
Ecclesiastes 3:11
“He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”
Ecclesiastes 3:12-13
“I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.”
Ecclesiastes 3:17
“I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.”
Read Ecclesiastes 3 in full
Study the complete chapter with interlinear Hebrew & Greek, verse-by-verse, in the Gospel Daily reader.
Open the full chapter