Ecclesiastes 7:3
Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made glad.
A Conservative Version
In The King James Version
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
In Context
4The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.
Cross References
Psalms 119:67Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I observe thy word.
Psalms 126:5Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.
Jeremiah 31:8Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the outermost parts of the earth, [and] with them the blind man and the lame man, the woman with child, and she who travails with child together. They shall ret
Jeremiah 50:4In those days, and in that time, says LORD, the sons of Israel shall come, they and the sons of Judah together. They shall go on their way weeping, and shall seek LORD their God.
Daniel 10:2In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three whole weeks.
Zechariah 12:10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication. And they shall look to me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him, as [a man] mourns for his only
Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 7:2-7
The Value of a Good Name. 1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth. 2 It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. 4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. 5 It is better to hear the rebuke of… Read the whole commentary →