Those who weep or who rejoice or who buy things should not be absorbed by their weeping or their joy or their possessions.
Parallel translations
- WEB and those who weep, as though they didn’t weep; and those who rejoice, as though they didn’t rejoice; and those who buy, as though they didn’t possess;
- KJV And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;
- BSB those who weep, as if they did not; those who are joyful, as if they were not; those who make a purchase, as if they had nothing;
- NKJV those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess,
- NASB and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess;
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers should grieve, rejoice, and buy as though not absorbed by these things, since the present order is passing. Our emotions and possessions should not own us.
Overview
Continuing the "as though not" pattern, Paul calls for an inner freedom from being mastered by sorrow, pleasure, or property. This is not stoic indifference but eschatological perspective: because this world is passing and Christ is coming, believers engage life fully yet without clinging. Such holy detachment keeps the heart anchored in the eternal rather than the temporary.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- John 16:22Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
- Eccl 3:4a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
- Luke 6:21Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
- Ps 126:5–6Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.
- Ps 30:5For his anger is but for a moment. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning.
- Luke 6:25Woe to you, you who are full now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
- Rev 7:17for the Lamb who is in the middle of the throne shepherds them, and leads them to springs of waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
- Isa 30:19For the people will dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. You will weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the voice of your cry. When he hears you, he will answer you.
- Luke 16:25“But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish.
- Rev 18:7However much she glorified herself, and grew wanton, so much give her of torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, ‘I sit a queen, and am no widow, and will in no way see mourning.’
- Isa 25:8He has swallowed up death forever! The Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from off all faces. He will take the reproach of his people away from off all the earth, for Yahweh has spoken it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God; he is our Passover sacrificed for us, the firstfruits of resurrection, the foundation on which everything is built.
How 1 Corinthians 7:30 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.