Passage

Ecclesiastes 3.1-8

Book: Ecclesiastes · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

1. For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: 2. a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3. a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4. a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5. a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6. a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7. a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8. a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboreth? 10. I have seen the travail which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised therewith. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-10, ASV)

WEB

1. For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: 2. a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; 3. a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4. a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5. a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6. a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7. a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8. a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.

What profit has he who works in that in which he labors? 10. I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-10, WEB)

KJV

1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: 2. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; ^{to be: Heb. to bear} 3. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5. A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; ^{to refrain from: Heb. to be far from} 6. A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; ^{get: or, seek} 7. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

What profit hath he that worketh in that wherein he laboureth? 10. I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-10, KJV)

YLT

1. To everything, a season, and a time to every delight under the heavens: 2. A time to bring forth, And a time to die. A time to plant, And a time to eradicate the planted. 3. A time to slay, And a time to heal, A time to break down, And a time to build up. 4. A time to weep, And a time to laugh. A time to mourn, And a time to skip. 5. A time to cast away stones, And a time to heap up stones. A time to embrace, And a time to be far from embracing. 6. A time to seek, And a time to destroy. A time to keep, And a time to cast away. 7. A time to rend, And a time to sew. A time to be silent, And a time to speak. 8. A time to love, And a time to hate. A time of war, And a time of peace.

What advantage hath the doer in that which he is labouring at? 10. I have seen the travail that God hath given to the sons of man to be humbled by it. (Ecclesiastes 3:1-10, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: Qohelet, "the Preacher" (Ecclesiastes 1:1), traditionally Solomon
Audience: readers of Israel's wisdom tradition weighing life "under the sun"
Location: Jerusalem, where the Preacher "was king over Israel" (Ecclesiastes 1:12)
Time period: traditionally c. 970-930 BC (Solomon's reign); many scholars date the book later, c. 450-200 BC

Theological reading

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, KJV).

A time for everything. Fourteen pairs of opposites, from birth and death to war and peace, describe the whole range of human life. Each has its "season."

Times set by someone. The poem is followed by the statement that God "hath made every thing beautiful in his time" and "set the world in their heart" (3:11), where the Hebrew word is olam, often rendered "eternity" (see H5769 - olam). People live inside time but sense something beyond it, and cannot see the whole of God's work "from the beginning to the end."

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word.

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Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Bible Contradictions Objection Defeater, via Ecclesiastes 3.3

Lexicon:

H7523 - ratsach, via Ecclesiastes 3.3

Notes

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Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.