New American Standard Bible 2020
James 4:9
91Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom.
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
7Submit therefore to God. But resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8Come close to God and He will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you. 11Do not speak against one another, brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or judges his brother or sister, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.
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 5:1Come now, you rich people, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.
- Psalms 119:67Before I was afflicted I went astray, But now I keep Your word.
- Psalms 126:5Those who sow in tears shall harvest with joyful shouting.
- Ecclesiastes 7:2It is better to go to a house of mourning Than to go to a house of feasting, Because that is the end of every person, And the living takes it to heart.
- Isaiah 22:12Therefore on that day the Lord God of armies called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head, and to wearing sackcloth.
- Jeremiah 31:9They will come with weeping, And by pleading I will bring them; I will lead them by streams of waters, On a straight path on which they will not stumble; For I am a father to Israel, And Ephraim is My firstborn.”
- Ezekiel 7:16Even when their survivors escape, they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each over his own wrongdoing.
- Ezekiel 16:63so that you may remember and be ashamed, and not open your mouth again because of your disgrace, when I have forgiven you for all that you have done,” the Lord God declares.
- Zechariah 12:10“And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and of pleading, so that they will look at Me whom they pierced; and they will mourn for Him, like one mourning for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.
- Matthew 5:4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
- Luke 6:21Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
- 2 Corinthians 7:10For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.
- Job 30:31Therefore my harp is turned to mourning, And my flute to the sound of those who weep.
- Proverbs 14:13Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, And the end of joy may be grief.
- Ecclesiastes 2:2I said of laughter, “It is senseless,” and of pleasure, “What does this accomplish?”
- Ecclesiastes 7:6For as the crackling of thorn bushes under a pot, So is the laughter of the fool; And this too is futility.
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
Notes
- 1. James 4:9 Neh 8:9; Prov 14:13; Luke 6:25 ↩
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
New American Standard Bible 2020 — © 1960–2020 The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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