Ecclesiastes 3:7

God Has Ordained The Ebb And Flow Of Human Activities

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A time to search and a time to give up as lost;
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
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A time to tear apart and a time to sew together;
A time to keep silent and a time to speak.
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A time to love and a time to hate;
A time for war and a time for peace.

Keep Silent

Amos 5:13

Therefore, he who is prudent and has insight will keep silent at such a [corrupt and evil] time, for it is an evil time [when people will not listen to truth and will disregard those of good character].

Genesis 37:29

Now Reuben [unaware of what had happened] returned to the pit, and [to his great alarm found that] Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his clothes [in deep sorrow].

Genesis 37:34

So Jacob tore his clothes [in grief], put on sackcloth and mourned many days for his son.

Genesis 44:18

Then Judah approached him, and said, “O my lord, please let your servant say a word to you in private, and do not let your anger blaze against your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh [so I speak as if directly to him].

Genesis 44:34

How can I go up to my father if the young man is not with me—for fear that I would see the tragedy that would overtake my [elderly] father [if Benjamin does not return]?”

1 Samuel 19:4-5

Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “May the king not sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you.

1 Samuel 25:24-44

Kneeling at his feet she said, “My lord, let the blame and guilt be on me alone. And please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant.

2 Samuel 1:11

Then David grasped his own clothes and tore them [in mourning]; so did all the men who were with him.

2 Samuel 3:31

Then David said to Joab and to all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David walked behind the bier.

1 Kings 21:27

Now when Ahab heard these words [of Elijah], he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and fasted, and he lay in sackcloth and went about dejectedly (mourning).

2 Kings 5:7

When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes [in shock and outrage at the request] and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me [a request] to heal a man of his leprosy? Just consider [what he is asking] and see how he is seeking an opportunity [for a battle] with me.”

2 Kings 6:30

When the king heard the woman’s words, he tore his clothes—now he was still walking along on the wall—and the people looked [at him], and he had on sackcloth underneath [his royal robe] next to his skin.

Esther 4:13-14

Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not imagine that you in the king’s palace can escape any more than all the Jews.

Esther 7:4

for we have been sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, killed and wiped out of existence. Now if we had only been sold as slaves, men and women, I would have remained silent, for our hardship would not be sufficient to burden the king [by even mentioning it].”

Job 2:13

So they sat down on the ground with Job for seven days and seven nights and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great.

Job 32:4-22

Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were years older than he.

Psalm 39:2

I was mute and silent [before my enemies],
I refrained even from good,
And my distress grew worse.

Proverbs 24:11-12

Rescue those who are being taken away to death,
And those who stagger to the slaughter, Oh hold them back [from their doom]!

Proverbs 31:8-9

Open your mouth for the mute,
For the rights of all who are unfortunate and defenseless;

Isaiah 36:21

But they kept silent and did not say a word to him in reply, for King Hezekiah’s command was, “Do not answer him.”

Jeremiah 8:14

Why are we sitting still [the people wonder]?
Assemble yourselves, and let us enter the fortified cities
And let us die there,
For the Lord our God has decreed our ruin
And given us bitter and poisonous water to drink,
Because we have sinned against the Lord.

Jeremiah 36:24

Yet the king and all his servants who heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they tear their clothes.

Lamentations 3:28

Let him sit alone [in hope] and keep quiet,
Because God has laid it on him [for his benefit].

Joel 2:13

Rip your heart to pieces [in sorrow and contrition] and not your garments.”
Now return [in repentance] to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness [faithful to His covenant with His people];
And He relents [His sentence of] evil [when His people genuinely repent].

Amos 8:3

In that day, the songs of the palace shall turn to wailing,” says the Lord God. “There will be many dead bodies; in [sacred] silence they will throw them everywhere.”

Micah 7:5

Do not trust in a neighbor [because of the moral corruption in the land];
Do not have confidence in a friend.
Guard the doors of your mouth
From her who lies in your bosom.

Luke 19:37-40

As soon as He was approaching [Jerusalem], near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the entire multitude of the disciples [all those who were or claimed to be His followers] began praising God [adoring Him enthusiastically and] joyfully with loud voices for all the miracles and works of power that they had seen,

Acts 4:20

for we, on our part, cannot stop telling [people] about what we have seen and heard.”

Acts 9:39

So Peter got up [at once] and went with them. When he arrived, they brought him into the upstairs room; and all the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing [him] all the tunics and robes that Dorcas used to make while she was with them.