James 4:9 kjv
Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
James 4:9 nkjv
Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
James 4:9 niv
Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
James 4:9 esv
Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.
James 4:9 nlt
Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy.
James 4 9 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Joel 2:12-13 | "Return to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." | Call to heartfelt repentance and inner grief. |
| Psa 51:17 | "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." | God desires genuine brokenness over sin. |
| Isa 22:12-13 | "In that day the Lord GOD of hosts called to weeping and mourning, to baldness and wearing sackcloth; but behold, joy and gladness, eating meat and drinking wine..." | Condemns superficial joy in face of judgment. |
| Isa 66:10 | "Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her." | Mourning now leads to future joy. |
| Jer 31:9 | "They shall come with weeping, and with pleas for mercy I will lead them back..." | Weeping accompanies returning to the Lord. |
| Ezek 18:31-32 | "Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed... For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live." | Command to turn from sin, leading to life. |
| Zech 12:10 | "...they will look on Me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly for Him, as one weeps for a firstborn." | Prophecy of future deep mourning over sin and Messiah. |
| Matt 5:4 | "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." | Godly mourning leads to comfort and blessing. |
| Luke 6:25 | "Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep." | Reversal of fortunes for the unrepentant. |
| 2 Cor 7:10 | "For godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly sorrow produces death." | Distinguishes godly sorrow from worldly sorrow. |
| Jas 4:4 | "You adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God." | The direct context for needing to lament is spiritual adultery. |
| Jas 4:10 | "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you." | Immediately follows and explains the purpose of mourning – true humility. |
| Ecc 7:2 | "It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart." | Wisdom on the benefit of seriousness over frivolity. |
| Lam 2:18-19 | "Their heart cried to the Lord... let tears stream down like a river day and night! Give yourself no relief, give your eyes no rest!" | Intense call to wailing and seeking God. |
| Matt 26:75 | "And Peter remembered the saying of Jesus, 'Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.' And he went out and wept bitterly." | Example of bitter weeping after recognizing sin. |
| Rev 18:7-8 | "As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning..." | Divine judgment often brings an end to worldly joy and initiates mourning. |
| Rom 6:21 | "What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?" | Points to shame and regret over past sinful deeds. |
| Psa 126:5-6 | "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy..." | Suffering and tears often precede great spiritual harvest. |
| Isa 53:3-4 | "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief..." | Jesus exemplifies sorrow, linking it to spiritual understanding. |
| 1 Jn 2:15-17 | "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." | Further condemnation of worldliness, showing the conflict. |
James 4 verses
James 4 9 Meaning
James 4:9 is a sharp, imperative call to deep and genuine repentance. It demands that individuals who have aligned themselves with the world, engaging in selfish desires, quarrels, and spiritual adultery against God, turn from their worldly frivolity and superficial joy. Instead, they are commanded to embrace profound sorrow, mourning, and lamentation over their sinful condition. This sorrow is not for worldly losses, but a godly grief for having offended the Most High. It implies that their current laughter and happiness are inappropriate and out of sync with their spiritual reality before God.
James 4 9 Context
James 4:9 is situated within a broader passage (Jas 4:1-10) that addresses the source of conflicts, quarrels, and selfish desires among believers. James directly confronts their worldliness and covetousness, asserting that "friendship with the world is enmity with God" (Jas 4:4). The preceding verses describe how their ungodly passions lead them to ask wrongly and ultimately, to resist God's grace. The call to "Lament and mourn and weep!" in verse 9 is thus a drastic, urgent command for those engaged in spiritual adultery—loving the world more than God—to undergo a profound inner transformation. It is the immediate and necessary step before humbling themselves before God (Jas 4:10) and experiencing His exaltation. It's a stark rebuke of their casual attitude towards sin and their pursuit of worldly pleasures.
James 4 9 Word analysis
- Lament (ταλαιπωρήσατε, talaipōrēsate): An imperative verb meaning "be miserable," "suffer distress," or "be wretched." It points to a deep internal acknowledgment of one's spiritually deprived and pitiful state due to sin. It's about recognizing the spiritual poverty and hardship brought about by rebellion against God.
- mourn (πενθήσατε, penthēsate): An imperative verb from pentheō, signifying profound grief and sorrow, often with an outward expression like weeping. This type of mourning is akin to grieving for the dead or a deep, significant loss. In this context, it's sorrow over spiritual separation from God and the gravity of sin. It goes beyond mere recognition of wretchedness to heartfelt anguish.
- weep (κλαύσατε, klaosate): An imperative verb from klaō, meaning to cry, wail aloud, or shed tears. It represents the audible and visible expression of intense sorrow. This is a public and unreserved manifestation of deep emotional distress, complementing 'mourn' by emphasizing the physical outflow of sorrow.
- Let your laughter be turned (ὁ γέλως ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος μετατραπήτω, ho gelōs hymōn eis penthos metatrapētō):
- laughter (γέλως, gelōs): Refers to worldly mirth, levity, or lightheartedness, perhaps even mockery or indifference towards spiritual matters. It's superficial joy that doesn't acknowledge the seriousness of their sinful condition or God's holiness.
- be turned (μετατραπήτω, metatrapētō): A strong imperative, passive voice, meaning "let it be changed," "transformed," or "converted." This signifies a radical, divinely ordained shift, a complete reversal of their current emotional state and spiritual alignment.
- to mourning (πένθος, penthos): The noun form of 'mourn', emphasizing deep grief and lamentation. The transformation demanded is from frivolous joy to a serious, appropriate sorrow.
- your joy (χαρὰ, chara): While chara can denote godly joy, here it likely refers to their superficial, perhaps sinful or unholy, worldly joy derived from self-indulgence or material possessions, given the preceding context of covetousness and conflict. It's joy that is independent of God.
- to gloom (κατήφειαν, katēpheian): A noun meaning "dejection," "sadness," "downcast countenance," or "despondency." It describes a visible state of profound sadness, where one's face shows discouragement or deep displeasure. It represents a spirit broken by contrition.
Words-group by words-group analysis:
- "Lament and mourn and weep!": This sequence of three intense imperatives represents a climactic and progressive call to escalating depths of repentance. From internal distress (talaipōrēsate) to deep grief of heart (penthēsate) and finally to outward, audible tears (klaosate). It urges a complete emotional and spiritual collapse before God, leaving no room for shallow confession. It demands the profound and pervasive sorrow that characterizes true repentance.
- "Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.": This is a powerful, parallel command for a radical reversal of disposition. It targets the very essence of their inappropriate worldly happiness. James insists that their current worldly amusement and cheerfulness are directly contrary to their true spiritual standing and the holiness of God. This transformation implies not only a rejection of their current way of life but an embrace of godly sorrow which recognizes the weight of their sins, leading to a changed perspective. It underlines the stark contrast between the superficial, worldly enjoyment and the appropriate response to their spiritual condition, which is humility and brokenness before God.
James 4 9 Bonus section
The tone of James 4:9 is remarkably prophetic, echoing the intense calls to repentance found throughout the Old Testament (e.g., in the prophets like Joel and Isaiah). It is characteristic of divine warning and appeal for spiritual fidelity. The commands are in the aorist imperative, conveying urgency and demanding decisive action now, a singular moment of turning. This is not about feeling guilty for every minor flaw but about acknowledging deep-seated, systemic worldly attachment and rebellion. It indicates that current emotional states (laughter, joy) can be direct indicators of one's spiritual condition, especially when they stem from disregard for sin or divine standards. The emphasis is on an internal, soul-level shift that manifests in outwardly recognized actions of humility and remorse, essential for God to lift one up.
James 4 9 Commentary
James 4:9 is not a command for perpetual misery, but a call for a specific and intense period of brokenness and contrition that is vital for true spiritual health. James confronts the believers' worldly joy directly, revealing it to be inappropriate given their rebellion against God. The passage does not encourage despair but godly sorrow that leads to repentance and ultimately, salvation without regret (2 Cor 7:10). This intense expression of grief is a necessary precursor to genuine humility (Jas 4:10) and drawing near to God (Jas 4:8). It means to genuinely hate the sin that once brought pleasure and to recognize its offence against a holy God. It requires confronting the deceitfulness of their former superficial happiness. This level of self-abasing sorrow signifies a willingness to abandon worldly comfort and align entirely with God's will. For example, a person might genuinely "lament, mourn, and weep" when realizing how past selfishness damaged a relationship, moving beyond regret to a heartfelt desire for change. Or when reflecting on moments where they chose worldly gain over a clear conscience, recognizing the hollowness of that temporary 'joy'.