Even in laughter the heart may be in pain, And the end of joy may be grief.
Parallel translations
- WEB Even in laughter the heart may be sorrowful, and mirth may end in heaviness.
- KJV Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
- BSB Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in sorrow.
- ESV Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.
- NKJV Even in laughter the heart may sorrow, And the end of mirth may be grief.
- NLT Laughter can conceal a heavy heart, but when the laughter ends, the grief remains.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Even laughter can mask sorrow, and joy can end in grief. Outward cheer does not always reflect inner reality.
Overview
This realistic proverb observes that mirth can coexist with a heavy heart and that fleeting pleasures may give way to sadness. It cautions against measuring well-being by surface appearances and against trusting worldly merriment for lasting joy. True and enduring joy is found not in passing amusement but in God Himself, in whose presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Eccl 2:2I said of laughter, “It is foolishness”; and of mirth, “What does it accomplish?”
- Jas 4:9Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
- Eccl 11:9Rejoice, young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth, and walk in the ways of your heart, and in the sight of your eyes; but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.
- Eccl 2:10–11Whatever my eyes desired, I didn’t keep from them. I didn’t withhold my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced because of all my labor, and this was my portion from all my labor.
- 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.
- Prov 5:4but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
- Eccl 7:5–6It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.
- Rev 18:7–8However 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.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 14:13 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 Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.