## Ecclesiastes Chapter 3

###### Ecclesiastes 3:1
[Ecclesiastes 3:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:1)

לַכֹּ֖ל זְמָ֑ן וְעֵ֥ת לְכׇל־חֵ֖פֶץ תַּ֥חַת הַשָּׁמָֽיִם׃{ס}

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
For everything there is a season and there is a time for everything under the sky:

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
For all there is a season, and there is a time for every thing under the heavens.


###### Ecclesiastes 3:2
[Ecclesiastes 3:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:2)

עֵ֥ת לָלֶ֖דֶתוְעֵ֣ת לָמ֑וּתעֵ֣ת לָטַ֔עַתוְעֵ֖ת לַעֲק֥וֹר נָטֽוּעַ׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the planted.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
There is a time to be born [(nine months)] and a time to die [(the allotted years for each generation)]. A time to plant [(nation and kingdom)] and a time to uproot what has been planted.


###### Ecclesiastes 3:3
[Ecclesiastes 3:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:3)

עֵ֤ת לַהֲרוֹג֙וְעֵ֣ת לִרְפּ֔וֹאעֵ֥ת לִפְר֖וֹץוְעֵ֥ת לִבְנֽוֹת׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to wreck and a time to build.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
A time to kill [(an entire people, e.g., Isaiah 14:30)], and a time to heal [that "killing," viz. Ibid. 19:22]. A time to breach [(the wall of the city, viz. Nechemiah 1:3)], and a time to build [viz. Amos 9:11].


###### Ecclesiastes 3:4
[Ecclesiastes 3:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:4)

עֵ֤ת לִבְכּוֹת֙וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂח֔וֹקעֵ֥ת סְפ֖וֹדוְעֵ֥ת רְקֽוֹד׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
A time to cry, [(on the ninth of Av)], and a time to laugh, [(in time to come, viz. Psalms 126:2)]. A time to mourn, [(in the days of mourning)], and a time to dance [(with grooms and brides)].


###### Ecclesiastes 3:5
[Ecclesiastes 3:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:5)

עֵ֚ת לְהַשְׁלִ֣יךְ אֲבָנִ֔יםוְעֵ֖ת כְּנ֣וֹס אֲבָנִ֑יםעֵ֣ת לַחֲב֔וֹקוְעֵ֖ת לִרְחֹ֥ק מֵחַבֵּֽק׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
A time to cast out "stones" [(the youths of Israel, cast out at the ruin of the Temple, viz. Eichah 4:1)] and a time to gather in "stones" [(from the exile, viz. Zechariah 9:16)]. A time to embrace [(viz. Jeremiah 13:11)], and a time to refrain from embracing [(viz. Isaiah 6:12)].


###### Ecclesiastes 3:6
[Ecclesiastes 3:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:6)

עֵ֤ת לְבַקֵּשׁ֙וְעֵ֣ת לְאַבֵּ֔דעֵ֥ת לִשְׁמ֖וֹרוְעֵ֥ת לְהַשְׁלִֽיךְ׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
A time to seek and a time to abandon; a time to preserve, and a time to discard.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
A time to seek [(the outcasts of Israel, viz. Ezekiel 34:16)], and a time to cause [them] to go lost, [(in exile, viz. Leviticus 26:38)]. A time to keep [(i.e., to protect you, when you do His will, viz. Numbers 6:24)], and a time to cast away, viz. Deuteronomy 29:27)].


###### Ecclesiastes 3:7
[Ecclesiastes 3:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:7)

עֵ֤ת לִקְר֙וֹעַ֙וְעֵ֣ת לִתְפּ֔וֹרעֵ֥ת לַחֲשׁ֖וֹתוְעֵ֥ת לְדַבֵּֽר׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
A time to rip apart and a time to sew; a time to be silent and a time to speak.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
A time to rend [(the kingdom of the house of David, viz. I Kings 14:8)], and a time to sew [together again, viz. Ezekiel 37:17]. A time to be silent [(and to receive reward for being so, viz. Leviticus 10:3)], and a time to speak [(viz. Exodus 15:1, Judges 51, Hosea 14:3)].


###### Ecclesiastes 3:8
[Ecclesiastes 3:8](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:8)

עֵ֤ת לֶֽאֱהֹב֙וְעֵ֣ת לִשְׂנֹ֔אעֵ֥ת מִלְחָמָ֖הוְעֵ֥ת שָׁלֽוֹם׃{ס}

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
A time to love [viz. Deuteronomy 7:13], and a time to hate [viz. Hosea 9:15], a time for war and a time for peace.


###### Ecclesiastes 3:9
[Ecclesiastes 3:9](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:9)

מַה־יִּתְרוֹן֙ הָֽעוֹשֶׂ֔ה בַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר ה֥וּא עָמֵֽל׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
What benefit [then] has the worker from his labor?

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
What profit has the worker from his toil?

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
What profit is there to the doer [of evil] in [all] that he toils? [(His time, too, will come, and all will go lost.)]


###### Ecclesiastes 3:10
[Ecclesiastes 3:10](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:10)

רָאִ֣יתִי אֶת־הָֽעִנְיָ֗ן אֲשֶׁ֨ר נָתַ֧ן אֱלֹהִ֛ים לִבְנֵ֥י הָאָדָ֖ם לַעֲנ֥וֹת בּֽוֹ׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
I have seen the matter which God has given to man to be afflicted with.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
I have seen the task, which God has given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
I have seen the [mode of] conduct which G-d has given to the sons of men whereby to conduct themselves.


###### Ecclesiastes 3:11
[Ecclesiastes 3:11](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:11)

אֶת־הַכֹּ֥ל עָשָׂ֖ה יָפֶ֣ה בְעִתּ֑וֹ גַּ֤ם אֶת־הָעֹלָם֙ נָתַ֣ן בְּלִבָּ֔ם מִבְּלִ֞י אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹא־יִמְצָ֣א הָאָדָ֗ם אֶת־הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֛ה אֲשֶׁר־עָשָׂ֥ה הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים מֵרֹ֥אשׁ וְעַד־סֽוֹף׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
He has made everything beautiful in its time; even [a sense of] the external world, He has set in their heart, yet man cannot discover the work that God has done from [the] beginning to the end.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
He has made every thing beautiful in his time: also he has set the mystery of the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work which God has made from the beginning to the end.

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
He made everything beautiful in its time. [(A time of good is "beautiful" [i.e., appropriate] for the rewarding of a good deed, and a time of evil, for the punishment of an evil deed.)] Also, the [wisdom of the] world [lit., of what is hidden], [which] He placed in their heart, [He did not place there in its entirety, in the heart of each one], so that a man not find out the act that G-d had wrought [i.e., projected] from beginning to end. [(So that, not knowing the day of his death, man plans and builds and the world is perpetuated.)]


###### Ecclesiastes 3:12
[Ecclesiastes 3:12](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:12)

יָדַ֕עְתִּי כִּ֛י אֵ֥ין ט֖וֹב בָּ֑ם כִּ֣י אִם־לִשְׂמ֔וֹחַ וְלַעֲשׂ֥וֹת ט֖וֹב בְּחַיָּֽיו׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
I know there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and perform good deeds in his life.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good in his life:

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
I know [now, since the time of death is hidden,] that there is nothing better for them than for (each one) to rejoice [in his lot] and to do what is good [in the eyes of the L-rd] in his lifetime.


###### Ecclesiastes 3:13
[Ecclesiastes 3:13](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:13)

וְגַ֤ם כׇּל־הָאָדָם֙ שֶׁיֹּאכַ֣ל וְשָׁתָ֔ה וְרָאָ֥ה ט֖וֹב בְּכׇל־עֲמָל֑וֹ מַתַּ֥ת אֱלֹהִ֖ים הִֽיא׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
And also, when every man eats and drinks, and enjoys the good of all his labors, that is the gift of God.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
also that it is the gift of God that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour.

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
And also, every man who eats and drinks and sees good [(Torah and mitzvoth)] in all of his toil, this is a gift of G-d.


###### Ecclesiastes 3:14
[Ecclesiastes 3:14](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:14)

יָדַ֗עְתִּי כִּ֠י כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֨ר יַעֲשֶׂ֤ה הָאֱלֹהִים֙ ה֚וּא יִהְיֶ֣ה לְעוֹלָ֔ם עָלָיו֙ אֵ֣ין לְהוֹסִ֔יף וּמִמֶּ֖נּוּ אֵ֣ין לִגְרֹ֑עַ וְהָאֱלֹהִ֣ים עָשָׂ֔ה שֶׁיִּֽרְא֖וּ מִלְּפָנָֽיו׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
I know that whatever God does will endure forever, nothing can be added to it, nor anything be diminished from it; God has so made it that man should fear before Him.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
I know that, whatever God does, it shall be forever: nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it: and God does it, so that men should fear before him.

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
I know that everything made by G-d [(in the creation)] is fit to endure [as is] forever, not to be added to or diminished; and [on those rare occasions when] G-d wrought [changes in the natural order, it was] so that men fear Him. [(This, then — doing mitzvoth and fearing G-d — should be the end of man.)]


###### Ecclesiastes 3:15
[Ecclesiastes 3:15](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:15)

מַה־שֶּֽׁהָיָה֙ כְּבָ֣ר ה֔וּא וַאֲשֶׁ֥ר לִהְי֖וֹת כְּבָ֣ר הָיָ֑ה וְהָאֱלֹהִ֖ים יְבַקֵּ֥שׁ אֶת־נִרְדָּֽף׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
That which already was, exists now, and that which is to be, has already been; and God seeks the pursued.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
That which is, already has been; and that which is to be has already been; and only God can find the fleeting moment.

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
What happened [(before us)] has already taken place [and is known to us], and what is to come will be [consistent with] what has already been, [(the L-rd not changing in His tributes)] — G-d seeks out [the cause of] the pursued one [(to punish the pursuer. What profit, then, can accrue to him who toils for wrongful gain?)]


###### Ecclesiastes 3:16
[Ecclesiastes 3:16](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:16)

וְע֥וֹד רָאִ֖יתִי תַּ֣חַת הַשָּׁ֑מֶשׁ מְק֤וֹם הַמִּשְׁפָּט֙ שָׁ֣מָּה הָרֶ֔שַׁע וּמְק֥וֹם הַצֶּ֖דֶק שָׁ֥מָּה הָרָֽשַׁע׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
And, furthermore, I have seen under the sun: in the place of justice there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness there was wickedness.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
And moreover I saw under the sun in the place of judgment, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that iniquity was there.

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
And I have further seen [(by the Holy Spirit)] that in the place of justice [(the chamber of hewn stone in Jerusalem, viz. Isaiah 1:21, the seat of Sanhedrin)], there will wickedness be adjudicated [viz. Michah 3:11], and in the place of righteousness [(the middle gate, where halachoth were formulated)], there will [the counsels of] wickedness [be seated].


###### Ecclesiastes 3:17
[Ecclesiastes 3:17](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:17)

אָמַ֤רְתִּֽי אֲנִי֙ בְּלִבִּ֔י אֶת־הַצַּדִּיק֙ וְאֶת־הָ֣רָשָׁ֔ע יִשְׁפֹּ֖ט הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים כִּי־עֵ֣ת לְכׇל־חֵ֔פֶץ וְעַ֥ל כׇּל־הַֽמַּעֲשֶׂ֖ה שָֽׁם׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
I said to myself: “The righteous and the wicked God will judge; for there is a time for every desire, and for every deed—there.”

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
I said in my heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
[Therefore,] I say in my heart [(that all of these injustices will be redressed, for)] G-d will judge the righteous one and the wicked one. For there is a time for all things [(even for retribution)], and there [i.e., at that time, G-d will judge a man] for every deed [that he has done.]


###### Ecclesiastes 3:18
[Ecclesiastes 3:18](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:18)

אָמַ֤רְתִּֽי אֲנִי֙ בְּלִבִּ֔י עַל־דִּבְרַת֙ בְּנֵ֣י הָאָדָ֔ם לְבָרָ֖ם הָאֱלֹהִ֑ים וְלִרְא֕וֹת שְׁהֶם־בְּהֵמָ֥ה הֵ֖מָּה לָהֶֽם׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
I said to myself: “Concerning the state of man, God has set them apart that they may see that they themselves are as beast.”

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
I said in my heart, after the speech of the sons of men, that God has chosen them out, but only to see that they themselves are but as beasts;

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
I said in my heart [(when I saw all this)] that G-d [has chosen] to apprise all those who assert lordship [over those beneath them that their power is naught)], and to show [them] that they [(and all potentates)] are as beasts unto themselves.


###### Ecclesiastes 3:19
[Ecclesiastes 3:19](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:19)

כִּי֩ מִקְרֶ֨ה בְֽנֵי־הָאָדָ֜ם וּמִקְרֶ֣ה הַבְּהֵמָ֗ה וּמִקְרֶ֤ה אֶחָד֙ לָהֶ֔ם כְּמ֥וֹת זֶה֙ כֵּ֣ן מ֣וֹת זֶ֔ה וְר֥וּחַ אֶחָ֖ד לַכֹּ֑ל וּמוֹתַ֨ר הָאָדָ֤ם מִן־הַבְּהֵמָה֙ אָ֔יִן כִּ֥י הַכֹּ֖ל הָֽבֶל׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
For the fate of men and the fate of the beasts—the same fate befalls both, as one dies, so dies the other, the same breath is in all of them; and the superiority of man over beast is nil for all is vanity.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
that that which befalls the sons of men befalls the beasts; even one thing befalls them both: as the one dies, so the other dies; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man has no preeminence over a beast: for all is vanity.

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
For what befalls the sons of men and what befalls the beasts — one thing befalls them [both]! As one dies, so the other dies, and there is one spirit to all. And the superiority of man over beast [(in his lifetime)] is naught [i.e., unapparent, at his death], for all is vanity [(everything returning to dust)].


###### Ecclesiastes 3:20
[Ecclesiastes 3:20](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:20)

הַכֹּ֥ל הוֹלֵ֖ךְ אֶל־מָק֣וֹם אֶחָ֑ד הַכֹּל֙ הָיָ֣ה מִן־הֶֽעָפָ֔ר וְהַכֹּ֖ל שָׁ֥ב אֶל־הֶעָפָֽר׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
All go to one place; all come from the dust, and all return to the dust.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
All go to one place; all are of the dust, and all return to dust.

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
All goes to one place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust.


###### Ecclesiastes 3:21
[Ecclesiastes 3:21](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:21)

מִ֣י יוֹדֵ֗עַ ר֚וּחַ בְּנֵ֣י הָאָדָ֔ם הָעֹלָ֥ה הִ֖יא לְמָ֑עְלָה וְר֙וּחַ֙ הַבְּהֵמָ֔ה הַיֹּרֶ֥דֶת הִ֖יא לְמַ֥טָּה לָאָֽרֶץ׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
Who knows the spirit of man, whether it rises upwards and the spirit of the beast whether it descends to the earth.”

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
Who knows whether the spirit of man goes upwards, and the spirit of the beast goes downwards to the earth?

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
Who knows [i.e., Who impresses upon himself that it is the spirit of man that ascends on high [for judgment] and the spirit of the beast that descends below, to the earth [(free of all accounting, and that he should not conduct himself as a beast, which gives no thought to its acts)]?


###### Ecclesiastes 3:22
[Ecclesiastes 3:22](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Ecclesiastes/r/3:22)

וְרָאִ֗יתִי כִּ֣י אֵ֥ין טוֹב֙ מֵאֲשֶׁ֨ר יִשְׂמַ֤ח הָאָדָם֙ בְּֽמַעֲשָׂ֔יו כִּי־ה֖וּא חֶלְק֑וֹ כִּ֣י מִ֤י יְבִיאֶ֙נּוּ֙ לִרְא֔וֹת בְּמֶ֖ה שֶׁיִּהְיֶ֥ה אַחֲרָֽיו׃

**The Metsudah Five Megillot, Lakewood, N.J., 2001:**
I perceived, therefore, that there is nothing better than man should rejoice in his work, for that is his lot; for who will bring him to see what will be after him.

**The Koren Jerusalem Bible:**
So I saw that there is nothing better, than that a man should rejoice in his work; for that is his portion: for who shall bring him to see what shall be after him?

**The Rashi Ketuvim by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein:**
And I have seen [(through all these things)] that there is no good [(for a man)] than for a man to rejoice in his acts [(i.e., in the toil of his hands, and not to aspire to luxuries and superfluities)]; for it [(the toil of his hands)] is his portion [(given him by Heaven to rejoice in)]. For [(after his death)], who will bring him to see what will transpire [with his children] after him? [i.e., whether they will or will not prosper as he did with the wealth that he heaped up for them]