Why did you run off secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me, so I could send you away with joy and singing to the music of timbrels and harps?

Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell facedown.

Be joyful at your festival—you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the Levites, the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns.

For seven days celebrate the festival to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete.

Because you did not serve the Lord your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity,

So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too!

When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres.

On the following day he sent the people away. They blessed the king and then went home, joyful and glad in heart for all the good things the Lord had done for his servant David and his people Israel.

Also, their neighbors from as far away as Issachar, Zebulun and Naphtali came bringing food on donkeys, camels, mules and oxen. There were plentiful supplies of flour, fig cakes, raisin cakes, wine, olive oil, cattle and sheep, for there was joy in Israel.

David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their fellow Levites as musicians to make a joyful sound with musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals.

Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his dwelling place.

Let the trees of the forest sing, let them sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth.

I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things I have given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you.

They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the Lord that day. Then they acknowledged Solomon son of David as king a second time, anointing him before the Lord to be ruler and Zadok to be priest.

On the twenty-third day of the seventh month he sent the people to their homes, joyful and glad in heart for the good things the Lord had done for David and Solomon and for his people Israel.

Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the Lord had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies.

The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully.

There was great joy in Jerusalem, for since the days of Solomon son of David king of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.

But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy.

No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

Then the people of Israel—the priests, the Levites and the rest of the exiles—celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.

Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”

Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send portions of food and to celebrate with great joy, because they now understood the words that had been made known to them.

The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great.

Dedication of the Wall of Jerusalem

At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from where they lived and were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate joyfully the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres.

And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away.

The Triumph of the Jews

When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen. And the city of Susa held a joyous celebration.

For the Jews it was a time of happiness and joy, gladness and honor.

In every province and in every city to which the edict of the king came, there was joy and gladness among the Jews, with feasting and celebrating. And many people of other nationalities became Jews because fear of the Jews had seized them.

This happened on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar, and on the fourteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

The Jews in Susa, however, had assembled on the thirteenth and fourteenth, and then on the fifteenth they rested and made it a day of feasting and joy.

That is why rural Jews—those living in villages—observe the fourteenth of the month of Adar as a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other.

as the time when the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month when their sorrow was turned into joy and their mourning into a day of celebration. He wrote them to observe the days as days of feasting and joy and giving presents of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.

Then I would still have this consolation— my joy in unrelenting pain— that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.

He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

“My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away without a glimpse of joy.

Are not my few days almost over? Turn away from me so I can have a moment’s joy

that the mirth of the wicked is brief, the joy of the godless lasts but a moment.

then that person can pray to God and find favor with him, they will see God’s face and shout for joy; he will restore them to full well-being.

while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?

“The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully, though they cannot compare with the wings and feathers of the stork.

Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.

May we shout for joy over your victory and lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests.

Psalm 21

For the director of music. A psalm of David.

The king rejoices in your strength, Lord. How great is his joy in the victories you give!

Surely you have granted him unending blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.

You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

Psalm 33

Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.

May those who delight in my vindication shout for joy and gladness; may they always say, “The Lord be exalted, who delights in the well-being of his servant.”

These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One with shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.

Then I will go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight. I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God.

You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy.

Led in with joy and gladness, they enter the palace of the king.

Psalm 47

For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A psalm.

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.

God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.

Beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth, like the heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King.

Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing.

Psalm 66

For the director of music. A song. A psalm.

Shout for joy to God, all the earth!

May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.

But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.

My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you— I whom you have delivered.

Psalm 81

For the director of music. According to gittith. Of Asaph.

Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob!

Bring joy to your servant, Lord, for I put my trust in you.

You created the north and the south; Tabor and Hermon sing for joy at your name.

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done.

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

Psalm 95

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them; let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

Light shines on the righteous and joy on the upright in heart.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;

with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn— shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy;

that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones, that I may share in the joy of your nation and join your inheritance in giving praise.

Let them sacrifice thank offerings and tell of his works with songs of joy.

Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous: “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!

Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.

Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.

Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.

Those who go out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with them.

May your priests be clothed with your righteousness; may your faithful people sing for joy.’”

I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her faithful people will ever sing for joy.

for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”

May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.

They celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness.

Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.