OLD TESTAMENT (Second Reading)

A Reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes

There is an appointed time for everything,

     and a time for every affair under the heavens.

A time to give birth, and a time to die;

     a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant.

A time to kill, and a time to heal;

     a time to tear down, and a time to build.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;

     a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them;

     a time to embrace, 

     and a time to be far from embraces.

A time to seek, and a time to lose;

     a time to keep, and a time to cast away.

A time to rend, and a time to sew;

     a time to be silent, and a time to speak.

A time to love, and a time to hate;

     a time of war, and a time of peace.

The Word of the Lord