Ecclesiastes 7:3

Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad face can make the heart better. It matters because grief and hardship can refine the soul in ways pleasure cannot.

Cross-references · 19

• 2 Cor 7:9–11And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us.
• Rom 5:3–4Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
• Jas 4:8–10Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
• John 16:20–22Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.
• Jas 1:2–4Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,
• 2 Cor 4:17For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory that is far beyond comparison.
• Jer 31:15–20This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”
• Heb 12:10–11Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.
• Luke 6:25Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.
• Dan 10:19“Do not be afraid, you who are highly precious,” he said. “Peace be with you! Be strong now; be very strong!” As he spoke with me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”
• Ps 119:71It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.
• Ps 119:67Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I keep Your word.
• Zech 12:10–14Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
• Luke 6:21Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
• Jer 31:8–9Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly!
• Dan 10:2–3In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.
• Jer 50:4–5“In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God.
• Dan 9:3–19So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
• Ps 126:5–6Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.

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