What Does the Bible Say About Being Merry?

Ecclesiastes 2:1-26 ESV / 4 helpful votes

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. ...

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 ESV / 3 helpful votes

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? For to the one who pleases him God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he has given the business of gathering and collecting, only to give to one who pleases God. This also is vanity and a striving after wind.

Revelation 22:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,

2 Peter 1:1-21 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ...

James 4:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

James 4:7-10 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

1 Timothy 5:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

(No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.)

1 Timothy 2:1-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ...

1 Corinthians 10:1-33 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. ...

Romans 4:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, ...

Acts 3:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,

John 17:1-26 ESV / 2 helpful votes

When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. ...

Luke 12:29-34 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. ...

Luke 12:19-20 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’

Luke 12:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Luke 5:32 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Mark 13:1-37 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. ...

Matthew 28:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Matthew 19:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Matthew 16:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes

But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Matthew 13:1-58 ESV / 2 helpful votes

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, ...

Ecclesiastes 8:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 7:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 7:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

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

Ecclesiastes 7:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad.

Ecclesiastes 2:19-21 ESV / 2 helpful votes

And who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

Ecclesiastes 2:17-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me,

Ecclesiastes 2:14-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The wise person has his eyes in his head, but the fool walks in darkness. And yet I perceived that the same event happens to all of them. Then I said in my heart, “What happens to the fool will happen to me also. Why then have I been so very wise?” And I said in my heart that this also is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 2:12-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

So I turned to consider wisdom and madness and folly. For what can the man do who comes after the king? Only what has already been done. Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.

Ecclesiastes 2:5-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. I made myself pools from which to water the forest of growing trees.

Ecclesiastes 2:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself.

Ecclesiastes 2:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life.

Ecclesiastes 2:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?”

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity. I said of laughter, “It is mad,” and of pleasure, “What use is it?” I searched with my heart how to cheer my body with wine—my heart still guiding me with wisdom—and how to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was good for the children of man to do under heaven during the few days of their life. I made great works. I built houses and planted vineyards for myself. I made myself gardens and parks, and planted in them all kinds of fruit trees. ...

Ecclesiastes 2:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes

I said in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy yourself.” But behold, this also was vanity.

Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes

The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. ...

Proverbs 17:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 14:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.

Genesis 3:1-24 ESV / 2 helpful votes

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ...

39 Bible Verses about Being Merry

Ecclesiastes 2:1-26 ESV / 4 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:24-26 ESV / 3 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Revelation 22:18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

2 Peter 1:1-21 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

James 4:8 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

James 4:7-10 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 5:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Timothy 2:1-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

1 Corinthians 10:1-33 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Romans 4:1-25 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Acts 3:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

John 17:1-26 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 12:29-34 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 12:19-20 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 12:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Luke 5:32 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Mark 13:1-37 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 28:19 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 19:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 16:23 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Matthew 13:1-58 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 8:15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 7:6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 7:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 7:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:19-21 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:17-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:14-15 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:12-13 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:5-6 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:4 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:3 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:2 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 2:1 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Ecclesiastes 1:1-18 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 17:22 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Proverbs 14:13 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

Genesis 3:1-24 ESV / 2 helpful votes Helpful Not Helpful

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