[a]Sorrow is better than laughter,
(A)For by a sad countenance the heart is made [b]better.

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Footnotes

  1. Ecclesiastes 7:3 Vexation or Grief
  2. Ecclesiastes 7:3 well or pleasing

Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10 For (A)godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; (B)but the sorrow of the world produces death. 11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what (C)clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be (D)clear in this matter.

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And not only that, but (A)we also glory in tribulations, (B)knowing that tribulation produces [a]perseverance; (C)and perseverance, [b]character; and character, hope.

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Footnotes

  1. Romans 5:3 endurance
  2. Romans 5:4 approved character

(A)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (B)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and (C)purify your hearts, you double-minded. (D)Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 (E)Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

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10 For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, (A)that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no [a]chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields (B)the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

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Footnotes

  1. Hebrews 12:11 discipline

Mercy on Ephraim

15 Thus says the Lord:

(A)“A voice was heard in (B)Ramah,
Lamentation and bitter (C)weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted for her children,
Because (D)they are no more.”

16 Thus says the Lord:

“Refrain your voice from (E)weeping,
And your eyes from tears;
For your work shall be rewarded, says the Lord,
And they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
17 There is (F)hope in your future, says the Lord,
That your children shall come back to their own border.

18 “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself:
‘You have (G)chastised me, and I was chastised,
Like an untrained bull;
(H)Restore me, and I will return,
For You are the Lord my God.
19 Surely, (I)after my turning, I repented;
And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh;
I was (J)ashamed, yes, even humiliated,
Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’
20 Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a pleasant child?
For though I spoke against him,
I earnestly remember him still;
(K)Therefore My [a]heart yearns for him;
(L)I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 31:20 Lit. inward parts

Profiting from Trials

My brethren, (A)count it all joy (B)when you fall into various trials, (C)knowing that the testing of your faith produces [a]patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be [b]perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

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Footnotes

  1. James 1:3 endurance or perseverance
  2. James 1:4 mature

17 For (A)our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,

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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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25 (A)Woe to you who are full,
For you shall hunger.
(B)Woe to you who laugh now,
For you shall mourn and (C)weep.

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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.

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Footnotes

  1. Luke 6:21 satisfied

Mourning for the Pierced One

10 (A)“And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will (B)look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him (C)as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great (D)mourning in Jerusalem, (E)like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of [a]Megiddo. 12 (F)And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of (G)Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.

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Footnotes

  1. Zechariah 12:11 Heb. Megiddon

19 (A)And he said, “O man greatly beloved, (B)fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!”

So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, “Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.”

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Behold, I will bring them (A)from the north country,
And (B)gather them from the ends of the earth,
Among them the blind and the lame,
The woman with child
And the one who labors with child, together;
A great throng shall return there.
(C)They shall come with weeping,
And with supplications I will lead them.
I will cause them to walk (D)by the rivers of waters,
In a straight way in which they shall not stumble;
For I am a Father to Israel,
And Ephraim is My (E)firstborn.

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71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.

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67 Before I was (A)afflicted I went astray,
But now I keep Your word.

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In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no [a]pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 10:3 desirable

(A)Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O (B)Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, (C)we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. (D)Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, (E)righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.

“O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. (F)To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, (G)all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the (H)Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has (I)confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; (J)for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.

13 (K)“As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; (L)yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has (M)kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for (N)the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, (O)who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself (P)a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!

16 “O Lord, (Q)according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, (R)Your holy mountain; because for our sins, (S)and for the iniquities of our fathers, (T)Jerusalem and Your people (U)are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, (V)and (W)for the Lord’s sake [a]cause Your face to shine on [b]Your sanctuary, (X)which is desolate. 18 (Y)O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes (Z)and see our desolations, and the city (AA)which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

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Footnotes

  1. Daniel 9:17 Be gracious
  2. Daniel 9:17 The temple

“In those days and in that time,” says the Lord,
“The children of Israel shall come,
(A)They and the children of Judah together;
(B)With continual weeping they shall come,
(C)And seek the Lord their God.
They shall ask the way to Zion,
With their faces toward it, saying,
‘Come and let us join ourselves to the Lord
In (D)a perpetual covenant
That will not be forgotten.’

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(A)Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
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.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 126:6 to and fro
  2. Psalm 126:6 Lit. a bag of seed for sowing
  3. Psalm 126:6 with shouts of joy

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