A Time for Everything

1 For everything there is a season, and ^la time for every matter under heaven:

The God-Given Task

9 What ^xgain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen ^ythe business that ^zGod has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has ^amade everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot ^bfind out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is ^cnothing better for them than to be joyful and to ^ddo good as long as they live; 13 also ^ethat everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is ^fGod’s gift to man.

14 I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; ^gnothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him. 15 That which is, ^halready has been; that which is to be, already has been; and God ⁱseeks what has been driven away.¹

From Dust to Dust

16 Moreover, ^jI saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even ^kthere was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. 17 I said in my heart, ^lGod will judge the righteous and the wicked, for there is ^ma time for every matter and for every work. 18 I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but ⁿbeasts. 19 ^oFor what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity.² 20 All go to one place. All are from ^pthe dust, and to dust all return. 21 Who knows whether ^qthe spirit of man goes upward and the spirit of the beast goes down into the earth? 22 So I saw that there is ^rnothing better than that a man should rejoice in his work, for ^sthat is his lot. Who can bring him to see ^twhat will be after him?

14 About the middle of the feast Jesus went up ^hinto the temple and began teaching. 15 The Jews therefore ⁱmarveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning,¹ when he has never studied?” 16 So Jesus answered them, ^j“My teaching is not mine, but his ^kwho sent me. 17 ^lIf anyone’s will is to do God’s² will, ^mhe will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I ⁿam speaking on my own authority. 18 The one who speaks on his own authority ^oseeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood. 19 ^pHas not Moses given you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law. ^qWhy do you seek to kill me?” 20 The crowd answered, ^r“You have a demon! Who is seeking to kill you?” 21 Jesus answered them, “I did ^sone work, and you all marvel at it. 22 ^tMoses gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but ^ufrom the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath. 23 If on the Sabbath a man receives circumcision, so that the law of Moses may not be broken, ^vare you angry with me because on the Sabbath I made a man’s whole body well? 24 ^wDo not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.”

Can This Be the Christ?

25 Some of the people of Jerusalem therefore said, “Is not this the man whom ^xthey seek to kill? 26 And here he is, ^yspeaking openly, and they say nothing to him! Can it be that ^zthe authorities really know that this is the Christ? 27 But ^awe know ^bwhere this man comes from, and when the Christ appears, ^cno one will know where he comes from.” 28 So Jesus proclaimed, ^das he taught in the temple, ^a“You know me, and you know where I come from. But ^eI have not come of my own accord. ^fHe who sent me is true, ^gand him you do not know. 29 ^hI know him, for I come ⁱfrom him, and ^jhe sent me.” 30 ^kSo they were seeking to arrest him, but ^lno one laid a hand on him, ^mbecause his hour had not yet come. 31 Yet ⁿmany of the people believed in him. They said, ^o“When the Christ appears, will he do more signs than this man has done?”