Ecclesiastes 3:6 (LSB)

Passage

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

Nearby Context

Ecclesiastes 3:4 A time to weep and a time to laugh; A time to mourn and a time to dance.

Ecclesiastes 3:5 A time to throw stones and a time to gather stones; A time to embrace and a time to shun embracing.

Ecclesiastes 3:6 A time to search and a time to lose; A time to keep and a time to throw away.

Ecclesiastes 3:7 A time to tear apart and a time to sew together; A time to be silent and a time to speak.

Ecclesiastes 3:8 A time to love and a time to hate; A time for war and a time for peace.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "time", "search", "lose", "keep", and "throw". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "time" and "search", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 5's "A time to throw stones and a..." into verse 7's "A time to tear apart and a...", so "time" and "search" belong inside that flow. In Ecclesiastes context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "time" and "search" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.