Ecclesiastes 3:7

There is a time to tear and to sew, to keep silent and to speak. Even speech and silence have their fitting seasons.

Cross-references · 29

• Mic 7:5Do not rely on a friend; do not trust in a companion. Seal the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your arms.
• Amos 5:13Therefore, the prudent keep silent in such times, for the days are evil.
• Esth 4:13–14he sent back to her this reply: “Do not imagine that because you are in the king’s palace you alone will escape the fate of all the Jews.
• Lam 3:28Let him sit alone in silence, for God has disciplined him.
• Acts 4:20For we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
• Prov 31:8–9Open your mouth for those with no voice, for the cause of all the dispossessed.
• Job 32:4–22Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because the others were older than he.
• Joel 2:13So rend your hearts and not your garments, and return to the LORD your God. For He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion. And He relents from sending disaster.
• Esth 7:4For my people and I have been sold out to destruction, death, and annihilation. If we had merely been sold as menservants and maidservants, I would have remained silent, because no such distress would justify burdening the king.”
• Prov 24:11–12Rescue those being led away to death, and restrain those stumbling toward the slaughter.
• 1 Sam 25:24–44She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant.
• Isa 36:21But the people remained silent and did not answer a word, for Hezekiah had commanded, “Do not answer him.”
• 2 Kgs 5:7When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and asked, “Am I God, killing and giving life, that this man expects me to cure a leper? Surely you can see that he is seeking a quarrel with me!”
• 2 Kgs 6:30When the king heard the words of the woman, he tore his clothes. And as he passed by on the wall, the people saw the sackcloth under his clothes next to his skin.
• Luke 19:37–40And as He approached the descent from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of disciples began to praise God joyfully in a loud voice for all the miracles they had seen:
• Ps 39:2I was speechless and still; I remained silent, even from speaking good, and my sorrow was stirred.
• 1 Kgs 21:27When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly.
• Amos 8:3“In that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “the songs of the temple will turn to wailing. Many will be the corpses, strewn in silence everywhere!”
• Gen 37:34Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.
• Gen 37:29When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes,
• 2 Sam 1:11Then David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and all the men who were with him did the same.
• 2 Sam 3:31Then David ordered Joab and all the people with him, “Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.” And King David himself walked behind the funeral bier.
• Gen 44:18Then Judah approached Joseph and said, “Sir, please let your servant speak personally to my lord. Do not be angry with your servant, for you are equal to Pharaoh himself.
• Job 2:13Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights, but no one spoke a word to him because they saw how intense his suffering was.
• Jer 36:24Yet in hearing all these words, the king and his servants did not become frightened or tear their garments.
• Acts 9:39So Peter got up and went with them. On his arrival, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood around him, weeping and showing him the tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them.
• Gen 44:34For how can I go back to my father without the boy? I could not bear to see the misery that would overwhelm him.”
• 1 Sam 19:4–5Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you.
• Jer 8:14Why are we just sitting here? Gather together, let us flee to the fortified cities and perish there, for the LORD our God has doomed us. He has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the LORD.

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