Ecclesiastes 7:3

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Ecclesiastes 7:1–5 · Berean Standard Bible

1 A good name is better than fine perfume, and one’s day of death is better than his day of birth.

2 It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.

3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.

4 The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.

5 It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Psalms 119:67

Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I keep Your word.

Psalms 119:71

It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.

Psalms 126:5

Those who sow in tears will reap with shouts of joy.

Psalms 126:6

He who goes out weeping, bearing a trail of seed, will surely return with shouts of joy, carrying sheaves of grain.

Jeremiah 31:8

Behold, I will bring them from the land of the north and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, including the blind and the lame, expectant mothers and women in labor. They will return as a great assembly!

Jeremiah 31:9

They 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.”

Jeremiah 31:15

This is what the LORD says: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Jeremiah 31:16

This is what the LORD says: “Keep your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears, for the reward for your work will come, declares the LORD. Then your children will return from the land of the enemy.

Jeremiah 31:17

So there is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children will return to their own land.

Jeremiah 31:18

I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning: ‘You disciplined me severely, like an untrained calf. Restore me, that I may return, for You are the LORD my God.

Jeremiah 31:19

After I returned, I repented; and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh in grief. I was ashamed and humiliated because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

Jeremiah 31:20

Is not Ephraim a precious son to Me, a delightful child? Though I often speak against him, I still remember him. Therefore My heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 50:4

“In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God.

Jeremiah 50:5

They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.

Daniel 9:3

So I turned my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and petition, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

Daniel 9:4

And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments,

Daniel 9:5

we have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.

Daniel 9:6

We have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, leaders, and fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Daniel 9:7

To You, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem, and all Israel near and far, in all the countries to which You have driven us because of our unfaithfulness to You.

Daniel 9:8

O LORD, we are covered with shame—our kings, our leaders, and our fathers—because we have sinned against You.

Daniel 9:9

To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, even though we have rebelled against Him

Daniel 9:10

and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God to walk in His laws, which He set before us through His servants the prophets.

Daniel 9:11

All Israel has transgressed Your law and turned away, refusing to obey Your voice; so the oath and the curse written in the Law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us, because we have sinned against You.

Daniel 9:12

You have carried out the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us a great disaster. For under all of heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:13

Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our iniquities and giving attention to Your truth.

Daniel 9:14

Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it upon us. For the LORD our God is righteous in all He does; yet we have not obeyed His voice.

Daniel 9:15

Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name renowned to this day, we have sinned; we have acted wickedly.

Daniel 9:16

O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, I pray that Your anger and wrath may turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all around us.

Daniel 9:17

So now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, O Lord, cause Your face to shine upon Your desolate sanctuary.

Daniel 9:18

Incline Your ear, O my God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your name. For we are not presenting our petitions before You because of our righteous acts, but because of Your great compassion.

Daniel 9:19

O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name.”

Daniel 10:2

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.

Daniel 10:3

I ate no rich food, no meat or wine entered my mouth, and I did not anoint myself with oil until the three weeks were completed.

Daniel 10:19

“Do not be afraid, you who are highly precious,” he said. “Peace be with you! Be strong now; be very strong!” As he spoke with me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, for you have strengthened me.”

Zechariah 12:10

Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.

Zechariah 12:11

On that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be as great as the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.

Zechariah 12:12

The land will mourn, each clan on its own: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives,

Zechariah 12:13

the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives,

Zechariah 12:14

and all the remaining clans and their wives.

Luke 6:21

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.

Luke 6:25

Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will hunger. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep.

John 16:20

Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

John 16:21

A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

John 16:22

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.

2 Corinthians 7:9

And now I rejoice, not because you were made sorrowful, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you felt the sorrow that God had intended, and so were not harmed in any way by us.

2 Corinthians 7:10

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

2 Corinthians 7:11

Consider what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what zeal, what vindication! In every way you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.

James 4:8

Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James 4:9

Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.

James 4:10

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

Romans 5:3

Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;

Romans 5:4

perseverance, character; and character, hope.

2 Corinthians 4:17

For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal glory that is far beyond comparison.

Hebrews 12:10

Our fathers disciplined us for a short time as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, so that we may share in His holiness.

Hebrews 12:11

No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields a harvest of righteousness and peace to those who have been trained by it.

James 1:2

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds,

James 1:3

because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

James 1:4

Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.