Ecclesiastes 3:4
New King James Version
4 A time to (A)weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
Romans 12:15
New King James Version
15 (A)Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.
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James 4:9
New King James Version
9 (A)Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
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John 16:20-22
New King James Version
20 Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and (A)lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into (B)joy. 21 (C)A woman, when she is in labor, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and (D)your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you.
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Psalm 126:5-6
New King James Version
5 (A)Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
6 He who continually goes [a]forth weeping,
Bearing [b]seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again [c]with (B)rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him.
Footnotes
- Psalm 126:6 to and fro
- Psalm 126:6 Lit. a bag of seed for sowing
- Psalm 126:6 with shouts of joy
2 Corinthians 7:10
New King James Version
10 For (A)godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; (B)but the sorrow of the world produces death.
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Matthew 9:15
New King James Version
15 And Jesus said to them, “Can (A)the [a]friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and (B)then they will fast.
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- Matthew 9:15 Lit. sons of the bridechamber
Isaiah 22:12-13
New King James Version
12 And in that day the Lord God of hosts
(A)Called for weeping and for mourning,
(B)For baldness and for girding with sackcloth.
13 But instead, joy and gladness,
Slaying oxen and killing sheep,
Eating meat and (C)drinking wine:
(D)“Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!”
Psalm 30:5
New King James Version
5 For (A)His anger is but for a moment,
(B)His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But [a]joy comes in the morning.
Footnotes
- Psalm 30:5 a shout of joy
Luke 6:21-25
New King James Version
21 (A)Blessed are you who hunger now,
For you shall be (B)filled.[a]
(C)Blessed are you who weep now,
For you shall (D)laugh.
22 (E)Blessed are you when men hate you,
And when they (F)exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil,
For the Son of Man’s sake.
23 (G)Rejoice in that day and leap for joy!
For indeed your reward is great in heaven,
For (H)in like manner their fathers did to the prophets.
Jesus Pronounces Woes
24 “But(I) woe to you (J)who are rich,
For (K)you have received your consolation.
25 (L)Woe to you who are full,
For you shall hunger.
(M)Woe to you who laugh now,
For you shall mourn and (N)weep.
Footnotes
- Luke 6:21 satisfied
Luke 1:58
New King James Version
58 When her neighbors and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they (A)rejoiced with her.
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Luke 1:13-14
New King James Version
13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and (A)you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and (B)many will rejoice at his birth.
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Matthew 11:17
New King James Version
17 and saying:
‘We played the flute for you,
And you did not dance;
We mourned to you,
And you did not [a]lament.’
Footnotes
- Matthew 11:17 Lit. beat your breast
Psalm 126:1-2
New King James Version
A Joyful Return to Zion
A Song of Ascents.
126 When (A)the Lord brought back [a]the captivity of Zion,
(B)We were like those who dream.
2 Then (C)our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the [b]nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
Footnotes
- Psalm 126:1 Those of the captivity
- Psalm 126:2 Gentiles
Nehemiah 9
New King James Version
The People Confess Their Sins
9 Now on the twenty-fourth day of (A)this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, (B)and with [a]dust on their heads. 2 Then (C)those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and (D)confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 And they stood up in their place and (E)read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for one-fourth of the day; and for another fourth they confessed and worshiped the Lord their God.
4 Then Jeshua, Bani, Kadmiel, Shebaniah, Bunni, Sherebiah, Bani, and Chenani stood on the [b]stairs of the Levites and cried out with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 5 And the Levites, Jeshua, Kadmiel, Bani, Hashabniah, Sherebiah, Hodijah, Shebaniah, and Pethahiah, said:
“Stand up and bless the Lord your God
Forever and ever!
“Blessed be (F)Your glorious name,
Which is exalted above all blessing and praise!
6 (G)You alone are the Lord;
(H)You have made heaven,
(I)The heaven of heavens, with (J)all their host,
The earth and everything on it,
The seas and all that is in them,
And You (K)preserve them all.
The host of heaven worships You.
7 “You are the Lord God,
Who chose (L)Abram,
And brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans,
And gave him the name (M)Abraham;
8 You found his heart (N)faithful before You,
And made a (O)covenant with him
To give the land of the Canaanites,
The Hittites, the Amorites,
The Perizzites, the Jebusites,
And the Girgashites—
To give it to his descendants.
You (P)have performed Your words,
For You are righteous.
9 “You(Q) saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt,
And (R)heard their cry by the Red Sea.
10 You (S)showed signs and wonders against Pharaoh,
Against all his servants,
And against all the people of his land.
For You knew that they (T)acted [c]proudly against them.
So You (U)made a name for Yourself, as it is this day.
11 (V)And You divided the sea before them,
So that they went through the midst of the sea on the dry land;
And their persecutors You threw into the deep,
(W)As a stone into the mighty waters.
12 Moreover You (X)led them by day with a cloudy pillar,
And by night with a pillar of fire,
To give them light on the road
Which they should travel.
13 “You(Y) came down also on Mount Sinai,
And spoke with them from heaven,
And gave them (Z)just ordinances and true laws,
Good statutes and commandments.
14 You made known to them Your (AA)holy Sabbath,
And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws,
By the hand of Moses Your servant.
15 You (AB)gave them bread from heaven for their hunger,
And (AC)brought them water out of the rock for their thirst,
And told them to (AD)go in to possess the land
Which You had [d]sworn to give them.
16 “But(AE) they and our fathers acted [e]proudly,
(AF)Hardened[f] their necks,
And did not heed Your commandments.
17 They refused to obey,
And (AG)they were not mindful of Your wonders
That You did among them.
But they hardened their necks,
And [g]in their rebellion
They appointed (AH)a leader
To return to their bondage.
But You are God,
Ready to pardon,
(AI)Gracious and merciful,
Slow to anger,
Abundant in kindness,
And did not forsake them.
18 “Even (AJ)when they made a molded calf for themselves,
And said, ‘This is your god
That brought you up out of Egypt,’
And worked great provocations,
19 Yet in Your (AK)manifold mercies
You did not forsake them in the wilderness.
The (AL)pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day,
To lead them on the road;
Nor the pillar of fire by night,
To show them light,
And the way they should go.
20 You also gave Your (AM)good Spirit to instruct them,
And did not withhold Your (AN)manna from their mouth,
And gave them (AO)water for their thirst.
21 (AP)Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness;
They lacked nothing;
Their (AQ)clothes did not wear out
And their feet did not swell.
22 “Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations,
And divided them into [h]districts.
So they took possession of the land of (AR)Sihon,
[i]The land of the king of Heshbon,
And the land of Og king of Bashan.
23 You also multiplied (AS)their children as the stars of heaven,
And brought them into the land
Which You had told their fathers
To go in and possess.
24 So (AT)the [j]people went in
And possessed the land;
(AU)You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land,
The Canaanites,
And gave them into their hands,
With their kings
And the people of the land,
That they might do with them as they wished.
25 And they took strong cities and a (AV)rich land,
And possessed (AW)houses full of all goods,
Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves,
And [k]fruit trees in abundance.
So they ate and were filled and (AX)grew fat,
And delighted themselves in Your great (AY)goodness.
26 “Nevertheless they (AZ)were disobedient
And rebelled against You,
(BA)Cast Your law behind their backs
And killed Your (BB)prophets, who [l]testified against them
To turn them to Yourself;
And they worked great provocations.
27 (BC)Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies,
Who oppressed them;
And in the time of their trouble,
When they cried to You,
You (BD)heard from heaven;
And according to Your abundant mercies
(BE)You gave them deliverers who saved them
From the hand of their enemies.
28 “But after they had rest,
(BF)They again did evil before You.
Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies,
So that they had dominion over them;
Yet when they returned and cried out to You,
You heard from heaven;
And (BG)many times You delivered them according to Your mercies,
29 And [m]testified against them,
That You might bring them back to Your law.
Yet they acted [n]proudly,
And did not heed Your commandments,
But sinned against Your judgments,
(BH)‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’
And they shrugged their shoulders,
[o]Stiffened their necks,
And would not hear.
30 Yet for many years You had patience with them,
And [p]testified (BI)against them by Your Spirit (BJ)in Your prophets.
Yet they would not listen;
(BK)Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.
31 Nevertheless in Your great mercy
(BL)You did not utterly consume them nor forsake them;
For You are God, gracious and merciful.
32 “Now therefore, our God,
The great, the (BM)mighty, and awesome God,
Who keeps covenant and mercy:
Do not let all the [q]trouble seem small before You
That has come upon us,
Our kings and our princes,
Our priests and our prophets,
Our fathers and on all Your people,
(BN)From the days of the kings of Assyria until this day.
33 However (BO)You are just in all that has befallen us;
For You have dealt faithfully,
But (BP)we have done wickedly.
34 Neither our kings nor our princes,
Our priests nor our fathers,
Have kept Your law,
Nor heeded Your commandments and Your testimonies,
With which You testified against them.
35 For they have (BQ)not served You in their kingdom,
Or in the many good things that You gave them,
Or in the large and rich land which You set before them;
Nor did they turn from their wicked works.
36 “Here (BR)we are, servants today!
And the land that You gave to our fathers,
To eat its fruit and its bounty,
Here we are, servants in it!
37 And (BS)it yields much increase to the kings
You have set over us,
Because of our sins;
Also they have (BT)dominion over our bodies and our cattle
At their pleasure;
And we are in great distress.
38 “And because of all this,
We (BU)make a sure covenant and write it;
Our leaders, our Levites, and our priests (BV)seal it.”
Footnotes
- Nehemiah 9:1 Lit. earth on them
- Nehemiah 9:4 Lit. ascent
- Nehemiah 9:10 presumptuously or insolently
- Nehemiah 9:15 Lit. raised Your hand to
- Nehemiah 9:16 presumptuously
- Nehemiah 9:16 Stiffened their necks, became stubborn
- Nehemiah 9:17 So with MT, Vg.; LXX in Egypt
- Nehemiah 9:22 Lit. corners
- Nehemiah 9:22 So with MT, Vg.; LXX omits The land of
- Nehemiah 9:24 Lit. sons
- Nehemiah 9:25 Lit. trees for eating
- Nehemiah 9:26 admonished or warned them
- Nehemiah 9:29 admonished them
- Nehemiah 9:29 presumptuously
- Nehemiah 9:29 Became stubborn
- Nehemiah 9:30 admonished or warned them
- Nehemiah 9:32 hardship
Nehemiah 8:9-12
New King James Version
9 (A)And Nehemiah, who was the [a]governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, (B)“This day is holy to the Lord your God; (C)do not mourn nor weep.” For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law.
10 Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, (D)and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
11 So the Levites quieted all the people, saying, “Be still, for the day is holy; do not be grieved.” 12 And all the people went their way to eat and drink, to (E)send portions and rejoice greatly, because they (F)understood the words that were declared to them.
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- Nehemiah 8:9 Heb. Tirshatha
2 Samuel 6:16
New King James Version
16 Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, (A)Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.
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Genesis 21:6
New King James Version
6 And Sarah said, (A)“God has [a]made me laugh, and all who hear (B)will laugh with me.”
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- Genesis 21:6 Lit. made laughter for me
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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