James 4:9

Be ye wretches, and wail ye [or and weep ye]; your laughing be turned into weeping, and [your] joy into (the) sorrow of heart.

Wycliffe Modern Spelling

In The King James Version

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.

In Context

8Nigh ye to God, and he shall nigh to you. Ye sinners, cleanse ye the hands, and ye double in soul [or and ye double of will], purge ye the hearts. (Come near to God, and he shall come near to you. Ye sinners, cleanse your hands, and ye of two minds, purge your hearts.)

10Be ye meeked in the sight of the Lord, and he shall enhance you. (Be ye humble before the Lord, and he shall raise you up.)

Read all of James 4

Cross References

Job 30:31Mine harp is turned into mourning, and mine organ into the voice of weepers. (My harp is tuned for mourning, and my organ to the voice of those who weep.)

Psalms 119:71It is good to me, that thou hast made me meek; that I learn thy justifyings. (It was good for me, that thou hast punished me; so that I would learn thy statutes.)

Psalms 126:5They that sow in tears; shall reap in full out joying. (Then they who sowed in tears; shall reap with rejoicing.)

Ecclesiastes 2:2And laughing I areckoned error, and I said to joy, What art thou, deceived in vain? (And I reckoned laughter as but error, and I said to joy, Of what value art thou?)

Isaiah 22:12And the Lord of hosts shall call in that day to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to a girdle of sackcloth; (And the Lord of hosts shall call on that day for weeping, and for mourning, and for baldness, and for a girdle of sackcloth;)

Jeremiah 31:13Then a virgin shall be glad in a company, young men and eld together, (or Then a virgin, or a maiden, shall dance, and be glad, and men young and old shall rejoice together); and I shall turn the mourning of them into joy, and I shall comfort them, and I shall make them glad (from out) of their sorrow.

Matthew Henry on James 4:2-11

Origin of War and Contention; Against Pride; Submission to God. ( a. d. 61.) 1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever… Read the whole commentary →

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