James 4:9

Genuine repentance involves grief over sin, not careless laughter. Mourning rightly precedes the joy God gives.

Cross-references · 23

• Matt 5:4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
• 2 Cor 7:10–11Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
• 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.
• Prov 14:13Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in sorrow.
• Jas 5:1–2Come now, you who are rich, weep and wail over the misery to come upon you.
• Ps 119:67Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I keep Your word.
• Jer 31:18–20I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.
• Eccl 7:2–6It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.
• Ezek 16:63so that when I make atonement for all you have done, you will remember and be ashamed and never again open your mouth because of your disgrace, declares the Lord GOD.”
• Rev 18:7–8As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’
• Ezek 7:16The survivors will escape and live in the mountains, moaning like doves of the valley, each for his own iniquity.
• Luke 16:25But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.
• Job 30:31My harp is tuned to mourning and my flute to the sound of weeping.
• Ps 126:5–6Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.
• Lam 5:15Joy has left our hearts; our dancing has turned to mourning.
• 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.
• Isa 22:12–13On that day the Lord GOD of Hosts called for weeping and wailing, for shaven heads and the wearing of sackcloth.
• Jer 31:9They will come with weeping, and by their supplication I will lead them; I will make them walk beside streams of waters, on a level path where they will not stumble. For I am Israel’s Father, and Ephraim is My firstborn.”
• Luke 6:21Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
• Jer 31:13Then the maidens will rejoice with dancing, young men and old as well. I will turn their mourning into joy, and give them comfort and joy for their sorrow.
• Ps 119:71It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.
• Eccl 2:2I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”
• Ps 119:136My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.

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