Ecclesiastes 3:4

Bible in Basic English

A time for weeping and a time for laughing; a time for sorrow and a time for dancing;

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
a time to weep and a time to laugh;a time to mourn and a time to dance;

Hebrew Names Version
A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

King James Version
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

English Standard Version
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

New American Standard Bible
A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.

New Century Version
There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to dance.

Amplified Bible
A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.

World English Bible
A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

Geneva Bible (1587)
A time to weepe, and a time to laugh: a time to mourne, and a time to dance.

Legacy Standard Bible
A time to weep and a time to laugh;A time to mourn and a time to dance.

Berean Standard Bible
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

Contemporary English Version
for crying and laughing, weeping and dancing,

Complete Jewish Bible
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

Darby Translation
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; A time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Easy-to-Read Version
There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to dance with joy.

George Lamsa Translation
A time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;

Good News Translation
He sets the time for sorrow and the time for joy, the time for mourning and the time for dancing,

Lexham English Bible
a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance;

Literal Translation
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
A tyme to wepe, and a tyme to laugh: A tyme to mourne, and a tyme to daunse:

American Standard Version
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

JPS Old Testament (1917)
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; {S}{S}{N}

King James Version (1611)
A time to weepe, and a time to laugh: a time to mourne, and a time to dance.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
A tyme to weepe, and a tyme to laugh: a tyme to mourne, & a tyme to daunce.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to lament, and a time to dance;

English Revised Version
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Tyme to wepe, and tyme to leiye; tyme to biweile, and tyme to daunse.

Update Bible Version
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Webster's Bible Translation
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

New English Translation
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.

New King James Version
A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance;

New Living Translation
A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance.

New Life Bible
There is a time to cry, and a time to laugh; a time to have sorrow, and a time to dance.

New Revised Standard
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A time to weep, and a time to laugh, - A time to wail, and a time to dance for joy;

Douay-Rheims Bible
A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance.

Revised Standard Version
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

Young's Literal Translation
A time to weep, And a time to laugh. A time to mourn, And a time to skip.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.

Contextual Overview

¹ For everything there is a fixed time, and a time for every business under the sun. ² A time for birth and a time for death; a time for planting and a time for uprooting; ³ A time to put to death and a time to make well; a time for pulling down and a time for building up; ⁴ A time for weeping and a time for laughing; a time for sorrow and a time for dancing; ⁵ A time to take stones away and a time to get stones together; a time for kissing and a time to keep from kissing; ⁶ A time for search and a time for loss; a time to keep and a time to give away; ⁷ A time for undoing and a time for stitching; a time for keeping quiet and a time for talk; ⁸ A time for love and a time for hate; a time for war and a time for peace. ⁹ What profit has the worker in the work which he does? ¹⁰ I saw the work which God has put on the sons of man.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

time to weep: Nehemiah 8:9-12, Nehemiah 9:1-38, Psalms 30:5, Psalms 126:1, Psalms 126:2, Psalms 126:5, Psalms 126:6, Isaiah 22:12, Isaiah 22:13, Matthew 9:15, Matthew 11:17, John 16:20-22, Romans 12:15, 2 Corinthians 7:10, James 4:9

a time to laugh: Genesis 21:6, Luke 1:13, Luke 1:14, Luke 1:58, Luke 6:21-25

to dance: Exodus 15:20, 2 Samuel 6:16

Reciprocal: Judges 21:21 - dance 1 Chronicles 15:29 - dancing Job 30:31 - General Psalms 30:11 - dancing Psalms 137:4 - How shall Proverbs 25:20 - so Ecclesiastes 7:14 - the day Song of Solomon 2:11 - General Ezekiel 21:10 - should Zechariah 7:3 - Should Luke 15:25 - he John 20:13 - why 1 Corinthians 7:30 - that weep

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it.

Deuteronomy 29:19
If such a man, hearing the words of this oath, takes comfort in the thought that he will have peace even if he goes on in the pride of his heart, taking whatever chance may give him:

2 Kings 1:4
Give ear then to the words of the Lord: You will never again get down from the bed on to which you have gone up, but death will certainly come to you. Then Elijah went away.

2 Kings 1:6
And they said to him, On our way we had a meeting with a man who said, Go back to the king who sent you and say to him, The Lord says, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you send to put a question to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? For this reason, you will not come down from the bed on to which you have gone up, but death will certainly come to you.

2 Kings 1:16
And he said to him, This is the word of the Lord: Because you sent men to put a question to Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, for this reason you will never again get down from the bed on to which you have gone up, but death will certainly come to you.

2 Kings 8:10
And Elisha said to him, Go, say to him, You will certainly get better; but the Lord has made it clear to me that only death is before him.

Psalms 10:11
He says in his heart, God has no memory of me: his face is turned away; he will never see it.

2 Corinthians 2:11
So that Satan may not get the better of us: for we are not without knowledge of his designs.

2 Corinthians 11:3
But I have a fear, that in some way, as Eve was tricked by the deceit of the snake, your minds may be turned away from their simple and holy love for Christ.

1 Timothy 2:14
And Adam was not taken by deceit, but the woman, being tricked, became a wrongdoer.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

A time to weep, and a time to laugh,.... There is a time for these things, as it goes ill or well with persons, as to their health, estate, or friends; and as it goes ill or well with kingdoms and states. The Jews wept when they were in Babylon, and their mouths were filled with laughter when their captivity was returned,

Psalms 137:1; and as it goes ill or well with the church of Christ, when there are corruptions in doctrine and worship, a neglect of ordinances, declensions in faith and practice, few instances of conversion, and there are divisions and contentions, it is a time for the mourners in Zion to weep but when God creates Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy, or makes her an eternal excellency, and the praise of the whole earth, then it is a time to rejoice and be glad, Isaiah 61:3; and as it is, with believers, when Christ is withdrawn from them, it is a time to lament, but, when the bridegroom is with them, it is a time of joy; when it is a night of darkness and desertion, weeping endures, but when the morning comes, the day breaks, and the sun of righteousness arises, joy comes with it, Matthew 9:15

John 16:19. Now in the present state is the saints' weeping time; in the time to come they will laugh, or be filled with joy unspeakable and full of glory, Luke 6:21;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance; to mourn at funerals, and to dance at festivals; in a spiritual sense, God sometimes turns the mourning of his people into dancing, or joy, which that is expressive of; see Psalms 30:11.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 3:4. A time to weep, - laugh, - mourn, - dance —

_________________ "When private griefs affect

The heart, our tears with decent sorrow flow;

Nor less becoming, when the public mourns,

To vent the deepest sighs. But all around

When things a smiling aspect bear, our souls

May well exult; 'tis then a time for joy."