For everything ¹  there is an appointed time, ²  and an appropriate time ³  for every activity ⁴  on earth: ⁵ 

The arrival of the lawless one ¹  will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles ²  and signs and false wonders,

For they were under royal orders ¹  which determined their activity day by day. ² 

When I tried ¹  to gain ²  wisdom and to observe the activity ³  on earth – even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night ⁴  –

Do you know about the balancing ¹  of the clouds, that wondrous activity of him who is perfect in knowledge?

But I was personally ¹  unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.

I thought to myself, “God will judge both the righteous and the wicked; for there is an appropriate time for every activity, and there is a time of judgment ¹  for every deed.

Even a young man ¹  is known ²  by his actions, whether his activity is pure and whether it is right. ³ 

Just as dreams come when there are many cares, ¹  so ²  the rash vow ³  of a fool occurs ⁴  when there are many words.

Like ¹  wild donkeys in the desert they ²  go out to their labor, ³  seeking diligently for food; the wasteland provides ⁴  food for them and for their children.

But better than both is the one who has not been born ¹  and has not seen the evil things that are done on earth. ² 

For he does not think ¹  much about the fleeting ²  days of his life because God keeps him preoccupied ³  with the joy he derives from his activity. ⁴ 

Is this really your boisterous city ¹  whose origins are in the distant past, ²  and whose feet led her to a distant land to reside?

Their webs cannot be used for clothing; they cannot cover themselves with what they make. Their deeds are sinful; they commit violent crimes. ¹ 

Later the Lord asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I answered, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”

so that we may preach the gospel in the regions that lie beyond you, and not boast of work already done in another person’s area.

They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors, ¹  and worshiped ²  the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.

I decided ¹  to carefully ²  and thoroughly examine ³  all that has been accomplished on earth. ⁴  I concluded: ⁵  God has given people ⁶  a burdensome task ⁷  that keeps them ⁸  occupied. ⁹ 

Whatever you find to do with your hands, ¹  do it with all your might, because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave, ²  the place where you will eventually go. ³ 

Just as you do not know the path ¹  of the wind, or how the bones form ²  in the womb of a pregnant woman, ³  so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.