Lectionary Calendar
Sunday, May 4th, 2025
the Third Sunday after Easter
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Read the Bible

New King James Version

Ecclesiastes 3:8

A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Nation;   Thompson Chain Reference - War;   War-Peace;   The Topic Concordance - Time;   War/weapons;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - War;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Hate, Hatred;   Time;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Garden;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes, Book of;   Israel, History of;   Poetry;   Time, Meaning of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Ecclesiastes;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - Ass;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Providence;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Peace;   Temurah, Midrash;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for September 24;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
a time to love and a time to hate;a time for war and a time for peace.
Hebrew Names Version
A time to love, And a time to hate; A time for war, And a time for shalom.
King James Version
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
English Standard Version
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
New American Standard Bible
A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
New Century Version
There is a time to love and a time to hate. There is a time for war and a time for peace.
Amplified Bible
A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.
World English Bible
A time to love, And a time to hate; A time for war, And a time for peace.
Geneva Bible (1587)
A time to loue, and a time to hate: a time of warre, and a time of peace.
Legacy Standard Bible
A time to love and a time to hate;A time for war and a time for peace.
Berean Standard Bible
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Contemporary English Version
There is also a time for love and hate, for war and peace.
Complete Jewish Bible
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
Darby Translation
A time to love, and a time to hate; A time of war, and a time of peace.
Easy-to-Read Version
There is a time to love and a time to hate. There is a time for war and a time for peace.
George Lamsa Translation
A time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.
Good News Translation
He sets the time for love and the time for hate, the time for war and the time for peace.
Lexham English Bible
a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace.
Literal Translation
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
A tyme to loue, & a tyme to hate: A tyme of warre, and a tyme of peace.
American Standard Version
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Bible in Basic English
A time for love and a time for hate; a time for war and a time for peace.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
A time to love, and a time to hate; {S}{S}{N}
King James Version (1611)
A time to loue, and a time to hate: a time of warre, and a time of peace.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
A tyme to loue, and a tyme to hate: A tyme of warre, and a tyme of peace.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
English Revised Version
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Tyme of loue, and tyme of hatrede; tyme of batel, and tyme of pees.
Update Bible Version
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Webster's Bible Translation
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
New English Translation
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
New Living Translation
A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace.
New Life Bible
There is a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
New Revised Standard
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A time to love and a time to hate, - A time of war, and a time of peace.
Douay-Rheims Bible
A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace.
Revised Standard Version
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
Young's Literal Translation
A time to love, And a time to hate. A time of war, And a time of peace.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

Contextual Overview

1 To everything there is a season, 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 what 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; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw 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 of war, And a time of peace. 9 What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? 10 I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

time to love: Ezekiel 16:8, Psalms 139:21, Ephesians 3:19, Ephesians 5:25, Ephesians 5:28, Ephesians 5:29, Titus 2:4

a time to hate: 2 Chronicles 19:2, Luke 14:26, Revelation 2:2

a time of war: Genesis 14:14-17, Joshua 8:1-29, Joshua 11:23, 2 Samuel 10:6-19, 1 Kings 5:4, 2 Chronicles 20:1-29, 2 Chronicles 20:30

Reciprocal: 2 Samuel 11:1 - after the year

Cross-References

Genesis 3:1
Romans 5:12-21">[xr] Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, "You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
Genesis 3:2
And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
Genesis 3:3
but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die."'
Genesis 3:9
Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"
Genesis 3:10
So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself."
Genesis 3:12
Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate."
Genesis 3:21
Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.
Genesis 3:22
Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"--
Deuteronomy 4:33
Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as you have heard, and live?
Deuteronomy 5:25
Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the LORD our God anymore, then we shall die.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

A time to love, and a time to hate,.... For one to love his friend, and to hate a man, a sinner, as the Targum; to love a friend while he continues such, and hate him, or less love him, when he proves treacherous and unfaithful; an instance of a change of love into hatred may be seen in the case of Amnon, 2 Samuel 13:15. A time of unregeneracy is a time of loving worldly lusts and sinful pleasures, the company of wicked men, and all carnal delights and recreations; and a time of conversion is a time to hate what was before loved, sin, and the conversion of sinners, the garment spotted with the flesh, the principles and practices, though not the persons, of ungodly men; and even to hate, that is, less love, the dearest friends and relations, in comparison of, or when in competition with, Christ;

a time of war, and a time of peace; for nations to be engaged in war with each other, or to be at peace, which are continually revolving; and there is a time when there will be no more war. In a spiritual sense, the present time, or state of things, is a time of war; the Christian's life is a warfare state, though it will be soon accomplished, in which he is engaging in fighting with spiritual enemies, sin, Satan, and the world: the time to come, or future state, is a time of peace, when saints shall enter into peace, and be no more disturbed by enemies from within or from without. In the Midrash, all the above times and seasons are interpreted of Israel, and applied to them.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 3:8. A time to love, - hate, - of war, - of peace.

"Love turns to hatred; interest or caprice

Dissolves the firmest knot by friendship tied.

O'er rival nations, with revenge inflamed,

Or lust of power, fell Discord shakes awhile

Her baleful torch: now smiling Peace returns.


The above paraphrase on the verses cited contains a general view of the principal occurrences of time, in reference to the human being, from his cradle to his grave, through all the operations of life.


 
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