Ecclesiastes 3:3

World English Bible

A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;

Parallel Translations

Legacy Standard Bible
A time to kill and a time to heal;A time to tear down and a time to build up.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
A tyme to slay, and a tyme to make whole: a tyme to breake downe, and a tyme to builde vp.

Darby Translation
A time to kill, and a time to heal; A time to break down, and a time to build up;

New King James Version
A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;

Literal Translation
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build up;

Easy-to-Read Version
There is a time to kill and a time to heal. There is a time to destroy and a time to build.

King James Version (1611)
A time to kill, and a time to heale: a time to breake downe, and a time to build vp.

King James Version
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
A tyme to slaye, and a tyme to make whole: A tyme to breake downe, and a tyme to buylde vp:

Amplified Bible
A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.

American Standard Version
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

Bible in Basic English
A time to put to death and a time to make well; a time for pulling down and a time for building up;

Update Bible Version
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

Webster's Bible Translation
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

New English Translation
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

Contemporary English Version
for killing and healing, destroying and building,

Complete Jewish Bible
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

Geneva Bible (1587)
A time to slay, and a time to heale: a time to breake downe, and a time to builde.

George Lamsa Translation
A time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build up;

Hebrew Names Version
A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up;

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

New Living Translation
A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build up.

New Life Bible
There is a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to pull down, and a time to build up;

English Revised Version
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

Berean Standard Bible
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build,

New Revised Standard
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A time to kill, and a time to heal, - A time to break down, and a time to build up;

Douay-Rheims Bible
A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time to build.

Lexham English Bible
a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time to build up;

English Standard Version
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

New American Standard Bible
A time to kill and a time to heal; A time to tear down and a time to build up.

New Century Version
There is a time to kill and a time to heal. There is a time to destroy and a time to build.

Good News Translation
the time for killing and the time for healing, the time for tearing down and the time for building.

Christian Standard Bible®
a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to tear down and a time to build;

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Tyme to sle, and tyme to make hool; tyme to distrie, and tyme to bilde.

Revised Standard Version
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

Young's Literal Translation
A time to slay, And a time to heal, A time to break down, And a time to build up.

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 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 for war, And a time for peace. ⁹ What profit has he who works in that in which he labors? ¹⁰ I have seen the burden which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

time to kill: Deuteronomy 32:39, 1 Samuel 2:6, 1 Samuel 2:25, Hosea 6:1, Hosea 6:2

a time to heal: Numbers 26:6-9, Isaiah 38:5-20, Jeremiah 33:6, Luke 9:54-56, Acts 5:15, Acts 5:16

a time to break: Isaiah 5:5, Isaiah 5:6, Isaiah 44:26, Jeremiah 31:28, Jeremiah 45:4, Ezekiel 13:14, Daniel 9:25-27, Zechariah 1:12

Cross-References

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

Genesis 3:13
Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:16
To the woman he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth. In pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."

Genesis 3:17
To Adam he said, "Because you have listened to your wife's voice, 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 will eat of it all the days of your life.

Genesis 20:6
God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also withheld you from sinning against me. Therefore I didn't allow you to touch her.

1 Chronicles 16:22
[Saying], Don't touch my anointed ones, Do my prophets no harm.

Job 1:11
But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will renounce you to your face."

Job 2:5
But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will renounce you to your face."

Job 19:21
"Have pity on me, have pity on me, you my friends; For the hand of God has touched me.

1 Corinthians 7:1
Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me. It is good for a man not to touch a woman.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

A time to kill, and a time to heal,.... A time to kill may be meant of a violent death, as a time to die is of a natural one; so the Targum,

"a time to kill in war;''

or else, by the hand of the civil magistrate, such who deserve death. Aben Ezra interprets it "to wound", because of the opposite "to heal"; and so there is a time when wounds and diseases are incurable, and baffle all the skill of the physician, being designed unto death; and there is a time when, by the blessing of God on means, they are healed; the wound or sickness not being unto death: so the Targum paraphrases the last clause,

"to heal one that lies sick.''

This may be applied in a civil sense to calamities in kingdoms, and a restoration of peace and plenty to them; which is the property of God alone, who in this sense kills and makes alive in his own time,

Deuteronomy 32:39; And in a spiritual sense to the ministers of the word, who are instruments of slaying souls by the law, which is the killing letter, and of healing them by the Gospel, which pours in the oil and wine of peace and pardon through the blood of Christ, and so binds up and heals the broken hearted; and there is a time for both;

a time to break down, and a time to build up; to break down a building, and build a waste, as the Targum; to break down cities and the walls of them, as the of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar; and to build them up: as in the times of Nehemiah and Zerubbabel: and so in a spiritual sense to break down the church of God, the tabernacle of David, and to raise up and repair the breaches of it; to build up Zion, and the walls of Jerusalem, or to restore the Gospel church state to its glory, for which there is a set time; see Amos 9:11.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Ecclesiastes 3:3. A time to kill, - heal, - break down, - build up —

"The healing art, when out of season used,

Pernicious proves, and serves to hasten death.

But timely medicines drooping nature raise,

And health restore. - Now, Justice wields her sword

With wholesome rigour, nor the offender spares:

But Mercy now is more expedient found.

On crazy fabrics ill-timed cost bestow'd

No purpose answers, when discretion bids

To pull them down, and wait a season fit

To build anew."