James 4:9

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

7So place yourselves under God’s authority. Resist the devil, and he will run away from you. 8Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Clean up your lives, you sinners, and clear your minds, you doubters. Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Turn your laughter into mourning and your joy into gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence. Then he will give you a high position. 11Brothers and sisters, stop slandering each other. Those who slander and judge other believers slander and judge God’s laws. If you judge God’s teachings, you are no longer following them. Instead, you are judging them.

James 4:9 word by word

ταλαιπωρήσατε καὶ πενθήσατε καὶ κλαύσατε· ὁ γέλως ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος μετατραπήτω καὶ ἡ χαρὰ εἰς κατήφειαν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Be afflictedταλαιπωρέωtalaipōreō · to grieveG5003
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• mournπενθέωpentheō · to mournG3996
• weepκλαίωklaiō · to weepG2799
• letμεταστρέφωmetastrephō · to changeG3344
• yourσύsu · youG4771
• laughterὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• laughterγέλωςgelōs · laughterG1071
• toεἰςeis · towardG1519
• mourningπένθοςpenthos · griefG3997
• joyχαράchara · joyG5479
• heavinessκατήφειαkatēpheia · gloominessG2726

Cross-references for James 4:9

• James 5:1Pay attention to this if you’re rich. Cry and moan about the misery that is coming to you.
• Psalms 119:67Before you made me suffer, I used to wander off, but now I hold on to your word.
• Psalms 126:5Those who cry while they plant will joyfully sing while they harvest.
• Ecclesiastes 7:2It is better to go to a funeral than to a banquet because that is where everyone will end up. Everyone who is alive should take this to heart!
• Isaiah 22:12On that day the Almighty Lord of Armies will call for crying and for mourning, for shaving your heads and for wearing sackcloth.
• Jeremiah 31:9They will cry as they return. They will pray as I bring them back. I will lead them beside streams on a level path where they will not stumble. I will be a Father to Israel, and Ephraim will be my firstborn.
• Ezekiel 7:16Those who survive will escape to the mountains. They will moan like doves in the valleys. They will moan because of their sins.
• Ezekiel 16:63You will remember and be ashamed. You will never again open your mouth because of your disgrace when I forgive you for everything you did, declares the Almighty Lord.’ ”
• Zechariah 12:10“I will pour out the Spirit of blessing and mercy on David’s family and on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look at me, whom they have stabbed. Then they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they will cry bitterly for him as one cries for a firstborn son.
• Matthew 5:4Blessed are those who mourn. They will be comforted.
• Luke 6:21Blessed are those who are hungry. They will be satisfied. Blessed are those who are crying. They will laugh.
• 2 Corinthians 7:10In fact, to be distressed in a godly way causes people to change the way they think and act and leads them to be saved. No one can regret that. But the distress that the world causes brings only death.
• Job 30:31So my lyre is used for mourning and my flute for loud weeping.
• Proverbs 14:13Even while laughing a heart can ache, and joy can end in grief.
• Ecclesiastes 2:2I thought, “Laughter doesn’t make any sense. What does pleasure accomplish?”
• Ecclesiastes 7:6The laughter of a fool is like the crackling of thorns burning under a pot. Even this is pointless.

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

• Commandments
• Joy
• Repentance
• Worldliness

In the dictionaries

• Adulterer
• Amiss
• Consume
• Enmity
• Flee
• Hence
• Lust
• Resist
• Sin
• Unruly

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