There is a time for everything,
every action has its moment under heaven.
A time for being born, a time for dying,
a time for sowing, a time for reaping;
a time for killing, a time for healing,
a time for destruction, a time for rebuilding.
A time to throw stones away, a time to gather them,
a time to embrace, a time to refuse.
A time for searching, a time for losing,
a time for keeping, a time for giving:
a time for tearing, a time for mending,
a time for speaking, a time for silence.
A time for loving, a time for hating,
a time for war, a time for peace.
What does a man gain from all his efforts?
What does he profit from all his labour?
What God has done to the son of man
is truly beautiful and comes at the right time.
He has placed in man's heart the sense of eternity,
but man cannot see the whole of God’s plan.
I know there is no happiness for man,
but to enjoy the fruits of his labour;
what he eats and drinks in his life,
is nothing but a gift from the Lord.
Nothing can be added, nothing taken away,
from what the Father had already ordained
at the beginning of time.

O Lord our God,
how great is your name,
throughout the earth is your name;
above the heavens rises your love.
Through the mouths of babies and of infants,
you affirm your power, O Lord,
to reduce to silence enemies and rebels.
O Lord our God…
If I look at the heavens, the work of your hands,
the moon and the stars which you have set in place:
what is man that you should care for him?,
the son of man that you keep him in mind?
And yet, and yet, you have made him little less than the angels,
with glory and honour you have crowned him,
you have put all things under his feet.
O Lord our God…

God, God
has led me, has led me
into darkness.
He has made for me a yoke
and he has pressed my head, my head
and my jaw.
God has bent his bow,
making me the target
for his arrows.
Though I call and cry,
he stifles, he stifles
my prayer.
When I see where he has brought me
in my wandering life,
this is wormwood and gall.
What will I do
if hope fails within me,
the hope
that comes from the Lord,
that comes from the Lord.
Sit down alone and in silence,
because God has laid it upon you.
Put your mouth in the dust,
there may yet be hope.
Offer your cheek to him who strikes you,
for the Lord does not reject you forever:
even if he afflicts you, he will then be merciful.
For the Lord does not reject you forever,
even if he afflicts you, he will then be merciful,
according to the abundance of his love.