God Sovereignly Foreordained the Most Appropriate Time for Every Human Event and Activity

3:1 For everything¹ there is an appointed time,²
and an appropriate time³ for every matter⁴ on earth:⁵
3:2 An appropriate time to be born,⁶ and an appropriate time to die;⁷
an appropriate time to plant, and an appropriate time to pluck up what was planted;
3:3 An appropriate time to kill, and an appropriate time to heal;
an appropriate time to break down, and an appropriate time to build up;
3:4 An appropriate time to weep, and an appropriate time to laugh;
an appropriate time to mourn, and an appropriate time to dance.
3:5 An appropriate time to cast away stones, and an appropriate time to gather stones;
an appropriate time to embrace, and an appropriate time to refrain from embracing;
3:6 An appropriate time to seek, and an appropriate time to give something up as lost;⁸
an appropriate time to keep, and an appropriate time to throw away;
3:7 An appropriate time to rip, and an appropriate time to sew;
an appropriate time to keep silent, and an appropriate time to speak.
3:8 An appropriate time to love, and an appropriate time to hate;
an appropriate time for war, and an appropriate time for peace.

God’s Foreordination of Future Events in Human Affairs is Inscrutable: Man is Ignorant of the Future Events that God Has Perfectly Timed

3:9 What advantage can man⁹ gain from his toil?¹⁰
3:10 I have observed the burden
that God has given to men to keep them occupied.
3:11 God has made everything fit beautifully¹¹ in its appropriate time;
he has also placed a desire to know the future¹² in man’s heart;¹³
in such a way that¹⁴ man cannot discover what God has ordained,¹⁵
from the beginning to the end of their lives.¹⁶

Recommendation to Enjoy Life in the Light of Man’s Ignorance of the Future Events

3:12 I have concluded¹⁷ that there is nothing beneficial for them
except¹⁸ to be happy and to enjoy themselves¹⁹ as long as they live;
3:13 And also that everyone should eat and drink, and find enjoyment in all his toil,
for it²⁰ is the gift of God.

God’s Sovereign Foreordination of Future Events is Immutable

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 thus, so that men should fear him.
3:15 That which is has already been, and that which will be has already been;
for God will seek to do again what has occurred in the past.²¹

Exception to the Appropriateness of All Events in God’s Perfect Plan: The Problem of Injustice and Oppression in the World

3:16 I saw something else under the sun:
In the place of justice, there was wickedness;
and in the place of righteousness, 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 matter,
and there is a time of judgment for every deed.
3:18 I also thought to myself: “It is for the sake of the sons of men,²²
to clearly²³ show²⁴ them that they are like beasts.
3:19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of the beasts are the same for both,
as one dies, so dies the other. Both have the same breath;
there is no advantage for man over the beasts,
for both are fleeting.
3:20 Both go to the same place,
both come from the dust,
and both return to dust.
3:21 Who really knows if the spirit of man ascends upward,
and the spirit of the beast goes downward to the earth?
3:22 So I perceived that there is nothing better than that a man should enjoy his work,
for that is his reward;
For who can show him what will happen when he dies?²⁵