Ecclesiastes 3:4

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Ecclesiastes 3:2–6 · Berean Standard Bible

2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build,

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 search and a time to count as lost, a time to keep and a time to discard,

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Nehemiah 8:9

Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who were instructing the people said to all of them, “This day is holy to the LORD your God. Do not mourn or weep.” For all the people were weeping as they heard the words of the Law.

Nehemiah 8:10

Then Nehemiah told them, “Go and eat what is rich, drink what is sweet, and send out portions to those who have nothing prepared, since today is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Nehemiah 8:11

And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be still, since today is holy. Do not grieve.”

Nehemiah 8:12

Then all the people began to eat and drink, to send out portions, and to rejoice greatly, because they understood the words that had been made known to them.

Nehemiah 9:1

On the twenty-fourth day of the same month, the Israelites gathered together, fasting and wearing sackcloth, with dust on their heads.

Nehemiah 9:2

Those of Israelite descent separated themselves from all the foreigners, and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

Nehemiah 9:3

While they stood in their places, they read from the Book of the Law of the LORD their God for a quarter of the day, and they spent another quarter of the day in confession and worship of the LORD their God.

Nehemiah 9:4

And the Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani—stood on the raised platform and cried out in a loud voice to the LORD their God.

Nehemiah 9:5

Then the Levites—Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabneiah, Sherebiah, Hodiah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah—said, “Stand up and bless the LORD your God from everlasting to everlasting: Blessed be Your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise.

Nehemiah 9:6

You alone are the LORD. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You.

Nehemiah 9:7

You are the LORD, the God who chose Abram, who brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham.

Nehemiah 9:8

You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites and Hittites, of the Amorites and Perizzites, of the Jebusites and Girgashites— to give it to his descendants. You have kept Your promise, because You are righteous.

Nehemiah 9:9

You saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt; You heard their cry at the Red Sea.

Nehemiah 9:10

You performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh, all his officials, and all the people of his land, for You knew they had acted with arrogance against our fathers. You made a name for Yourself that endures to this day.

Nehemiah 9:11

You divided the sea before them, and they crossed through it on dry ground. You hurled their pursuers into the depths like a stone into raging waters.

Nehemiah 9:12

You led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, to light for them the way in which they should travel.

Nehemiah 9:13

You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven. You gave them just ordinances, true laws, and good statutes and commandments.

Nehemiah 9:14

You revealed to them Your holy Sabbath and gave them commandments and statutes and laws through Your servant Moses.

Nehemiah 9:15

In their hunger You gave them bread from heaven; in their thirst You brought them water from the rock. You told them to go in and possess the land which You had sworn to give them.

Nehemiah 9:16

But they and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments.

Nehemiah 9:17

They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt. But You are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in loving devotion, and You did not forsake them.

Nehemiah 9:18

Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,

Nehemiah 9:19

You in Your great compassion did not forsake them in the wilderness. By day the pillar of cloud never turned away from guiding them on their path; and by the night the pillar of fire illuminated the way they should go.

Nehemiah 9:20

You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst.

Nehemiah 9:21

For forty years You sustained them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

Nehemiah 9:22

You gave them kingdoms and peoples and allotted to them every corner of the land. So they took the land of Sihon king of Heshbon and of Og king of Bashan.

Nehemiah 9:23

You multiplied their descendants like the stars of heaven and brought them to the land You had told their fathers to enter and possess.

Nehemiah 9:24

So their descendants went in and possessed the land; You subdued before them the Canaanites dwelling in the land. You delivered into their hands the kings and peoples of the land, to do with them as they wished.

Nehemiah 9:25

They captured fortified cities and fertile land and took houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards, olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled; they grew fat and delighted in Your great goodness.

Nehemiah 9:26

But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.

Nehemiah 9:27

So You delivered them into the hands of enemies who oppressed them, and in their time of distress they cried out to You. From heaven You heard them, and in Your great compassion You gave them deliverers who saved them from the hands of their enemies.

Nehemiah 9:28

But as soon as they had rest, they again did evil in Your sight. So You abandoned them to the hands of their enemies, who had dominion over them. When they cried out to You again, You heard from heaven, and You delivered them many times in Your compassion.

Nehemiah 9:29

You admonished them to turn back to Your law, but they were arrogant and disobeyed Your commandments. They sinned against Your ordinances, by which a man will live if he practices them. They stubbornly shrugged their shoulders; they stiffened their necks and would not obey.

Nehemiah 9:30

You were patient with them for many years, and Your Spirit admonished them through Your prophets. Yet they would not listen, so You gave them into the hands of the neighboring peoples.

Nehemiah 9:31

But in Your great compassion, You did not put an end to them; nor did You forsake them, for You are a gracious and compassionate God.

Nehemiah 9:32

So now, our God, the great and mighty and awesome God who keeps His gracious covenant, do not view lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, and upon our kings and leaders, our priests and prophets, our ancestors and all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria until today.

Nehemiah 9:33

You are just in all that has befallen us, because You have acted faithfully, while we have acted wickedly.

Nehemiah 9:34

Our kings and leaders and priests and fathers did not obey Your law or listen to Your commandments and warnings that You gave them.

Nehemiah 9:35

For even while they were in their kingdom, with the abundant goodness that You had given them, and in the spacious and fertile land that You had set before them, they would not serve You or turn from their wicked ways.

Nehemiah 9:36

So here we are today as slaves in the land You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and goodness— here we are as slaves!

Nehemiah 9:37

Its abundant harvest goes to the kings You have set over us because of our sins. And they rule over our bodies and our livestock as they please. We are in great distress.

Nehemiah 9:38

In view of all this, we make a binding agreement, putting it in writing and sealing it with the names of our leaders, Levites, and priests.”

Psalms 30:5

For His anger is fleeting, but His favor lasts a lifetime. Weeping may stay the night, but joy comes in the morning.

Psalms 126:1

When the LORD restored the captives of Zion, we were like dreamers.

Psalms 126:2

Then our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with shouts of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The LORD has done great things for them.”

Psalms 126:5

Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.

Psalms 126:6

He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.

Isaiah 22:12

On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.

Isaiah 22:13

But look, there is joy and gladness, butchering of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”

Matthew 9:15

Jesus replied, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while He is with them? But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.

Matthew 11:17

‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

John 16:20

Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

John 16:21

A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

John 16:22

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

Romans 12:15

Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.

2 Corinthians 7:10

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

James 4:9

Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

Genesis 21:6

Then Sarah said, “God has made me laugh, and everyone who hears of this will laugh with me.”

Luke 1:13

But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John.

Luke 1:14

He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,

Luke 1:58

Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy, and they rejoiced with her.

Luke 6:21

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

Luke 6:22

Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.

Luke 6:23

Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For their fathers treated the prophets in the same way.

Luke 6:24

But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

Luke 6:25

Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

Exodus 15:20

Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron’s sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her with tambourines and dancing.

2 Samuel 6:16

As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Saul’s daughter Michal looked down from a window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, and she despised him in her heart.