23 Bible Verses about Recreation
Most Relevant Verses
And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place and rest a while; for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest, that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and the son of thy handmaid and the stranger may be refreshed.
Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day shall be a sabbath of rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein; it is the sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
And it came to pass when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson that he may make us laugh. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport, and they set him between the pillars.
He was a powerful hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, Even as Nimrod, the powerful hunter before the LORD.
And God was with the lad, and he grew and dwelt in the wilderness and became an archer.
And they rose up early on the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink and rose up to play.
and thou shalt offer peace offerings and shalt eat there and rejoice before the LORD thy God.
Neither shalt thou find rest among these Gentiles, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but there the LORD shall give thee a trembling heart and failing of eyes and sorrow of soul;
unto whom Samson said, I will now put forth an enigma unto you, which if ye can declare it and discover it to me within the seven days of the banquet, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments. But if ye cannot declare it to me, then ye shall give me thirty sheets and thirty changes of garments. And they said unto him, Put forth thy enigma that we may hear it. And he said unto them, Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not declare the enigma in three days.read more.
And it came to pass on the seventh day that they said unto Samson's wife, Entice thy husband that he may declare unto us this enigma lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire. Have ye called us here to impoverish us? And Samson's wife wept before him and said, Thou dost only hate me and dost not love me, for thou hast not declared unto me the enigma that thou hast put forth unto the sons of my people. And he said unto her, Behold, I have not told it to my father nor my mother, and must I tell it to thee? And she wept before him the seven days while their banquet lasted, but on the seventh day, he told her, because she lay sore upon him, and she declared the enigma to the sons of her people. And the men of the city said unto him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a lion? And he said unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would have never discovered my enigma.
Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, that men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house round about and beat at the doors and spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, Bring forth the man that came into thy house that we may know him. And the man, the master of the house, went out unto them and said unto them, No, my brethren, I pray you, do not do this evil, seeing that this man has entered into my house; do not commit this folly. Behold, here is my virgin daughter and his concubine; I will bring them out now, humble them, and do with them what seems good unto you, but unto this man do not commit this vile folly.read more.
But the men would not hearken unto him, so the man took his concubine and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her and abused her all night until the morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go. Then the woman came, in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was until it was light.
And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise and sport before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.
And on the next day the princes of the families of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered together unto Ezra, the scribe, to understand the words of the law. And they found written in the law, which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the sons of Israel should dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month and that they should publish and proclaim in all their cities and in Jerusalem, saying, Go forth unto the mount and bring olive branches and pine branches and myrtle branches and palm branches and branches of thick trees, to make booths, as it is written.read more.
So the people went forth and brought them and made themselves booths, each one upon the roof of his house and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God and in the plaza of the water gate and in the plaza of the gate of Ephraim. And all the congregation of those that returned out of the captivity made booths and dwelt in the booths, for since the days of Jeshua, the son of Nun, unto that day, the sons of Israel had not done so. And there was very great joy.
They send forth their little ones like a flock of sheep, and their children dance.
There go the ships; there is that leviathan, whom thou didst make to play therein.
I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy good things; and, behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad, and of mirth, What does it do? I proposed in my heart to regale my flesh with wine and that my heart would walk in wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, until I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.
The young men faint and are weary; the children stumble and fall; but those that wait for the LORD shall have new strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Why have we fasted, they say, and thou dost not see? why have we afflicted our soul, and thou dost take no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find your own pleasure and exact your own estates. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? is it to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast and an acceptable day to the LORD?read more.
Is not rather the fast that I have chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the ties of oppression, to release into freedom those who are broken, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to share thy bread with the hungry and that thou bring the poor that are cast out into thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou not hide thyself from thy brother? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall gather thee. Then shalt thou call, and thou shalt hear the LORD; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; and if thou pour out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday: And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And they shall build up out of thee the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the fallen foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy will on my holy day; and call the sabbath the delightful, holy, glorious day of the LORD; and shalt honour him by not doing thine own ways, nor seeking thine own will, nor speaking thine own words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth and cause thee to eat of the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it.
that chant to the sound of the flute and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David;
But unto whom shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets and shouting unto their fellows and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.
And he being in Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, sitting at the table, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard very precious; and breaking the alabaster, she poured it over his head.
And reject also the idle, who have learned to wander about from house to house, and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
