Ecclesiastes 3:6

Updated Bible Version

a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
A time to search and a time to lose;A time to keep and a time to throw away.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
A tyme to wynne, and a tyme to lose: A tyme to spare, and a tyme to spende.

Darby Translation
A time to seek, and a time to lose; A time to keep, and a time to cast away;

New King James Version
A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away;

Literal Translation
a time to seek, and a time to give up as lost; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

Easy-to-Read Version
There is a time to look for something and a time to consider it lost. There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away.

World English Bible
A time to seek, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to cast away;

King James Version (1611)
A time to get, and a time to lose: a time to keepe, and a time to cast away.

King James Version
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
A tyme to wynne, and a tyme to lese: A tyme to spare, and a tyme to spende:

Amplified Bible
A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.

American Standard Version
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

Bible in Basic English
A time for search and a time for loss; a time to keep and a time to give away;

Webster's Bible Translation
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

New English Translation
A time to search, and a time to give something up as lost; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

Contemporary English Version
There is a time for finding and losing, keeping and giving,

Complete Jewish Bible
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to discard,

Geneva Bible (1587)
A time to seeke, and a time to lose: a time to keepe, and a time to cast away.

George Lamsa Translation
A time to lose and a time to seek; a time to tie up and a time to untie;

Hebrew Names Version
A time to seek, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to cast away;

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

New Living Translation
A time to search and a time to quit searching. A time to keep and a time to throw away.

New Life Bible
There is a time to try to find, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

English Revised Version
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

Berean Standard Bible
a time to search and a time to count as lost, a time to keep and a time to discard,

New Revised Standard
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to throw away;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A time to seek, and a time to give up as lost, - A time to keep, and a time to cast away;

Douay-Rheims Bible
A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away.

Lexham English Bible
a time to seek and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away;

English Standard Version
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

New American Standard Bible
A time to search and a time to give up as lost; A time to keep and a time to throw away.

New Century Version
There is a time to look for something and a time to stop looking for it. There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away.

Good News Translation
He sets the time for finding and the time for losing, the time for saving and the time for throwing away,

Christian Standard Bible®
a time to search and a time to count as lost; a time to keep and a time to throw away;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Tyme to wynne, and tyme to leese; tyme to kepe, and tyme to caste awei.

Revised Standard Version
a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

Young's Literal Translation
A time to seek, And a time to destroy. A time to keep, And a time to cast away.

Contextual Overview

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 silent, and a time to speak; ⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. ⁹ What profit has he that works in that wherein he labors? ¹⁰ I have seen the travail which God has given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

time to get: or, time to seek, Genesis 30:30-43, Genesis 31:18, Exodus 12:35, Exodus 12:36, Deuteronomy 8:17, Deuteronomy 8:18, 2 Kings 5:26, 2 Kings 8:9, an a time to lose, Matthew 16:25, Matthew 16:26, Matthew 19:29, Mark 8:35-37, Mark 10:28-30, Luke 9:24, Luke 9:25

and a time to cast: Ecclesiastes 11:1, 2 Kings 7:15, Psalms 112:9, Isaiah 2:20, Jonah 1:5, Acts 27:19, Acts 27:38, Philippians 3:7, Philippians 3:8, Hebrews 10:34, Hebrews 10:35

Cross-References

Genesis 3:1
Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which Yahweh God had made. And he said to the woman, has God really said, You shall not eat of any tree of the garden?

Genesis 3:2
And the woman said to the serpent, Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat:

Genesis 3:12
And the man said, The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.

Genesis 3:14
And Yahweh God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life:

Genesis 3:15
and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed: he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.

Genesis 3:17
And to Adam he said, Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

Genesis 3:19
in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.

Genesis 6:2
that the sons of God saw the daughters of man that they were fair; and they took for themselves wives of all that they chose.

Genesis 39:7
And it came to pass after these things, that his master's wife cast her eyes on Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.

Joshua 7:21
when I saw among the spoil a goodly Babylonian mantle, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, look, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

A time to get, and a time to lose,.... To get substance, as the Targum, and to lose it; wealth and riches, honour and glory, wisdom and knowledge: or, "to seek, and to lose" i; a time when the sheep of the house of Israel, or God's elect, were lost, and a time to seek them again; which was, lone by Christ in redemption, and by the Spirit of God, in effectual calling;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away; to keep a thing, and to cast it away, into the sea, in the time of a great tempest, as the Targum; as did the mariners in the ship in which Jonah was, and those in which the Apostle Paul was, Jonah 1:5; It may be interpreted of keeping riches, and which are sometimes kept too close, and to the harm of the owners of them; and of scattering them among the poor, or casting them upon the waters; see Ecclesiastes 5:13.

i עת לבקש "tempus quaerendi", Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine version, Piscator, Mercerus, Gejerus, Rambachius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Get ... lose - Rather, seek, and a time to give up for lost.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 3:6. A time to get, - to lose, - to keep, - to cast away —

___________________ "Commerce produces wealth,

Whilst time of gaining lasts; from every point

Blow prosperous gales. Now heaven begins to lower,

And all our hopes are blasted. Prudence bids,

One while, our treasure to reserve, and then

With liberal hand to scatter wide. How oft

In raging storms, the owner wisely casts

Into the deep his precious merchandise,

To save the foundering bark!