Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 · KJV
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 observes that there is "a time to every purpose under the heaven" — a season for birth and death, weeping and laughing, keeping and letting go. It teaches acceptance of life's rhythms under God.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (KJV)
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.
What Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 means
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." The passage lists fourteen paired opposites — a time to be born and to die, to plant and pluck up, to weep and laugh, to mourn and dance, to keep silence and to speak.
The wisdom is in accepting the seasons rather than fighting them. Life holds both gain and loss, and there is a rightness to their timing under God's hand. Made famous well beyond the church, it is a favourite reading for funerals, new chapters, and times of change.
Key verse
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”
Ecclesiastes 3:1 · KJV — "To every thing there is a season."
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A prayer from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Lord, teach me to accept the seasons of my life — the planting and the uprooting, the weeping and the laughing. Help me trust Your timing in all of it. Amen.
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Frequently asked
What does Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 mean?
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 observes that there is "a time to every purpose under the heaven" — a season for birth and death, weeping and laughing, keeping and letting go. It teaches acceptance of life's rhythms under God.
What is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 about?
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven." The passage lists fourteen paired opposites — a time to be born and to die, to plant and pluck up, to weep and laugh, to mourn and dance, to keep silence and to speak.
What is the key verse in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8?
Ecclesiastes 3:1 — “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:”
Is Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 in the King James Version?
Yes. The full text of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 on this page is the King James Version (KJV), which is in the public domain.