Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.
Parallel translations
- WEB Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.
- KJV They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
- NKJV Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy.
- NASB Those who sow in tears shall harvest with joyful shouting.
- NLT Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.
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
Those who sow in tears will reap with joy. It promises that present grief endured in faith gives way to future gladness.
Overview
Using the rhythm of farming, the psalm assures that sorrowful labor now yields a joyful harvest later. God does not waste the tears of His people but brings fruit from them in His time. The pattern is fulfilled supremely in Christ, whose suffering produced the harvest of salvation.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gal 6:9Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
- Isa 35:10So the redeemed of the LORD will return and enter Zion with singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee.
- 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.
- Joel 2:23Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for He has given you the autumn rains for your vindication. He sends you showers, both autumn and spring rains, as before.
- Matt 5:4Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
- Jer 31:9–13They 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.”
- Isa 12:1–3In that day you will say: “O LORD, I will praise You. Although You were angry with me, Your anger has turned away, and You have comforted me.
- Ps 137:1By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion.
- Joel 2:17Let the priests who minister before the LORD weep between the portico and the altar, saying, “Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not make Your heritage a reproach, an object of scorn among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’”
- 2 Cor 7:8–11Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Although I did regret it, I now see that my letter caused you sorrow, but only for a short time.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 126:5 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.