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Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 KJV
Ecclesiastes · chapter 3 · verses 1–8
1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 · King James Version
What Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 means
Solomon lists fourteen pairs, and the hard ones are in there with the good — a time to kill, a time to break down, a time to lose. He isn't saying every season is pleasant. He's saying every season is appointed, which means the one you're in has an end.
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Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 in context
1To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
9What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth?
10I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it.
Commentary
Cross references
- Ecclesiastes 3:17
- Matthew 16:3
- Ecclesiastes 8:5-6
- Ecclesiastes 7:14
- 2 Kings 5:26
- Proverbs 15:23
- 2 Chronicles 33:12
- Ecclesiastes 2:3
- Hebrews 9:27
- Job 14:5
- Hosea 6:1-2
- 1 Samuel 2:6
Key words (Strong's)
- purposechêphetspleasureH2656 →
- embracechâbaqto claspH2263 →
- refrainrâchaqto widenH7368 →
- silencechâshâhto hush or keep quietH2814 →
- seasonzᵉmânan appointed occasionH2165 →
- stonesʼebena stoneH68 →
- gatherkânaçto collectH3664 →
- plantnâṭaʻproperly, to strike inH5193 →
Topics
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The scope of these verses is to show, 1. That we live in a world of changes, that the several events of time, and conditions of human life, are vastly different from one another, and yet occur promiscuously, and we are continually passing and repassing between them, as in the revolutions of every day and every year.
— Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on verses 1-10