Darby Bible
James 4:9
9Be wretched, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and [your] joy to heaviness.
James 4:9 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
- New International Version (NIV)Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Context of James 4:9
7Subject yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse [your] hands, sinners, and purify [your] hearts, ye double-minded. Be wretched, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and [your] joy to heaviness. 10Humble yourselves before [the] Lord, and he shall exalt you. 11Speak not against one another, brethren. He that speaks against [his] brother, or judges his brother, speaks against [the] law and judges [the] law. But if thou judgest [the] law, thou art not doer of [the] law, but judge.
Read all of James 4James 4:9 word by word
ταλαιπωρήσατε καὶ πενθήσατε καὶ κλαύσατε· ὁ γέλως ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος μετατραπήτω καὶ ἡ χαρὰ εἰς κατήφειαν.Read the interlinear
Cross-references for James 4:9
- James 5:1Go to now, ye rich, weep, howling over your miseries that [are] coming upon [you].
- Psalms 119:67Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep thy *word.
- Psalms 126:5They that sow in tears shall reap with rejoicing:
- Ecclesiastes 7:2It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: in that that is the end of all men, and the living taketh it to heart.
- Isaiah 22:12And in that day did the Lord Jehovah of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth;
- Jeremiah 31:9They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them; I will cause them to walk by water-brooks, in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble; for I will be a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
- Ezekiel 7:16And they that escape of them shall escape, and shall be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, every one for his iniquity.
- Ezekiel 16:63that thou mayest remember, and be ashamed, and no more open thy mouth because of thy confusion, when I forgive thee all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Jehovah.
- Zechariah 12:10And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look on me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for an only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.
- Matthew 5:4Blessed they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
- Luke 6:21Blessed ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled. Blessed ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh.
- 2 Corinthians 7:10For grief according to God works repentance to salvation, never to be regretted; but the grief of the world works death.
- Job 30:31My harp also is [turned] to mourning, and my pipe into the voice of weepers.
- Proverbs 14:13Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful, and the end of mirth is sadness.
- Ecclesiastes 2:2I said of laughter, Madness! and of mirth, What availeth it?
- Ecclesiastes 7:6For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This also is vanity.
Commentaries on James 4:9
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 9Be afflicted, and mourn - Without true and deep repentance ye cannot expect the mercy of God. Let your laughter be turned to mourning - It appears most evidently that many of those to whom St. James addressed this epistle had lived a very irregular and dissolute life. He had already spoken of their lust, and pleasures, and he had called them adulterers and adulteresses; and perhaps they were so in the grossest sense of the words. He speaks here of their…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 9Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep - That is, evidently, on account of your sins. The sins to which the apostle refers are those which he had specified in the previous part of the chapter, and which he had spoken of as so evil in their nature, and so dangerous in their tendency. The word rendered “be afflicted” means, properly, to endure toil or hardship; then to endure affliction or distress; and here means, that they were to afflict themselves - that is…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-10James explains the causes of conflict among people: love for the world, divided loyalty, and arrogant criticism (4:11–12). He gives instructions that will fix these problems and lead to peace.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 99. Be afflicted--literally, "Endure misery," that is, mourn over your wretchedness through sin. Repent with deep sorrow instead of your present laughter. A blessed mourning. Contrast Is 22:12, 13; Lu 6:25. James does not add here, as in Jas 5:1, "howl," where he foretells the doom of the impenitent at the coming destruction of Jerusalem. heaviness--literally, "falling of the countenance," casting down of the eyes.Read the comment
Topics related to James 4:9
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on James 4
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Illustrated New Testament
- Burkitt’s Expository Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Family Bible Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- The People’s New Testament
- Robertson’s Word Pictures
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
Darby Bible — 1889 — Public Domain
Commentaries