Ecclesiastes 3:1–8

Public domain, so these words can be printed in a ceremony script or an order of service.

Pete Seeger set these verses to music as “Turn! Turn! Turn!”, and the Byrds recorded it in 1965.

To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven. Then fourteen pairs of opposites: born and die, plant and uproot, kill and heal, break down and build, weep and laugh, mourn and dance, embrace and refrain, keep and throw away, keep silent and speak, love and hate, war and peace. It does not try to explain why; it says only that each has its time, and that the time for mourning is real.

Reads as well at a secular service as a religious one. Everyone knows it. Read at a funeral or memorial service. Themes: a time to every purpose · seasons · weeping and laughing · acceptance · a natural death.

Almost any funeral, religious or not, because it barely mentions God. It suits a gardener or farmer, a family that knows the song, and a service where both grief and celebration will be present. It is also chosen at weddings, so check the family is happy with a reading people may associate with one.

As the first reading, or just before the eulogy, so the officiant can say this is the time to mourn and, later, the time to laugh. Any reader; it is easy to read well.

The text on this page is 158 words. At a ceremony pace of about 130 words a minute, which is slower than conversation, that comes to about a minute and a half of reading.

• The rhythm is everything. Give every “a time to” the same weight and do not rush the second half of each pair.
• Group the pairs in twos, with a short breath after every second line, so the room hears the pattern rather than a wall of words.
• People may expect the song’s wording. Read the King James as it is; the differences are small and nobody will mind.

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