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

7Therefore submit to God. But resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded! Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the sight of Adonai, and He shall lift you up. 11Do not speak evil against one another, brethren. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the Torah and judges the Torah. But if you judge the Torah, you are not a doer of the Torah, but a judge.

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 5:1Come now, you rich, weep and wail over the miseries that 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 will reap with a song of joy.
• Ecclesiastes 7:2Better to go to a house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, since that is the end of all mankind —and the living should take it to heart.
• Isaiah 22:12Now in that day, Adonai Elohei-Tzva’ot will call for weeping and wailing, for baldness and putting on sackcloth.
• Jeremiah 31:9Hear the word of Adonai, O nations, and declare it in the distant islands, and say: ‘He who scattered Israel will gather and watch over him, as a shepherd does his flock.’
• Ezekiel 7:16Those survivors who escape will head for the mountains like doves of the valleys, all of them moaning, each one over his iniquity.
• Ezekiel 16:63So you will remember, be ashamed and never open your mouth again because of your disgrace, when I have forgiven you of all that you have done.” It is a declaration of Adonai.
• Zechariah 12:10“Then I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, when they will look toward Me whom they pierced. They will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son and grieve bitterly for him, as one grieves for a firstborn.
• Matthew 5:4“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
• Luke 6:21Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
• 2 Corinthians 7:10For the grief that God wills brings a repentance that leads to salvation, leaving no regret. But the world’s grief brings death.
• Job 30:31My harp is for mourning and my flute for the sound of weeping.
• Proverbs 14:13Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.
• Ecclesiastes 2:2I said of laughter, “It is madness!” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”
• Ecclesiastes 7:6For like the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. This too is vapor.

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