They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Parallel translations
- WEB Those who sow in tears will reap in joy.
- BSB Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of 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 6:9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
- Isa 35:10And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
- John 16:20–22Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.
- Joel 2:23Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month.
- Matt 5:4Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
- Jer 31:9–13They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.
- Isa 12:1–3And in that day thou shalt say, O LORD, I will praise thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me.
- Ps 137:1By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
- Joel 2:17Let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O LORD, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God?
- 2 Cor 7:8–11For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.
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.