23 Bible Verses about Recreation

And he said to them, "You yourselves come privately to an isolated place and rest for a short time." For those [who were] coming and going were many, and they did not even have time to eat.

" 'Six days you will do your work, but on the seventh day you will stop so that your ox and your donkey will rest and the son of your slave woman and the alien will be refreshed.

" '[For] six days work is to be done, and on the seventh day [shall be] {a Sabbath of complete rest}, a holy assembly; you shall not do any work; it [shall be] a Sabbath for Yahweh in all your dwellings.

After awhile, when their hearts were merry, they said, "Call Samson and let him entertain us." And they called Samson {from the prison}, and {he entertained them}. And they made him stand between the pillars.

He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh. Therefore it was said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh."

And God was with the boy, and he grew and lived in the wilderness. And he became {an expert with a bow}.

And they started early the next day, and they offered burnt offerings, and they presented fellowship offerings, and the people sat to eat and drink, and they rose up to revel.

And you shall sacrifice fellowship offerings, and you shall eat [them] there, and you shall rejoice {before} Yahweh your God.

And among these nations you shall not find rest, and [there] shall not be a resting place for the sole of your foot, and Yahweh shall give you there an anxious heart and a weakening of eyes and a languishing of [your] inner self.

And Samson said to them, "Let me tell you a riddle. If you can fully explain it to me within the seven days of the feast, and find [it out], I will give to you thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments. But if you are unable to explain it to me, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty festal garments." So they said to him, "Tell your riddle; let us hear it." He said to them, "From the eater came out food, From [the] strong came out sweet." But they were unable to explain the riddle for three days.read more.
When it was the fourth day, they said to Samson's wife, "Entice your husband and tell us the riddle, or we will burn you and your father's house with fire. Have you invited us to rob us?" And Samson's wife wept before him, and she said, "You must hate me; you do not love me. You told the riddle to {my people}, but you have not explained [it] to me." He said to her, "I have not explained [it] to my father and mother. [Why] should I explain it to you?" She wept before him the seven days of their feast; and it happened, because she nagged him, on the seventh day he explained [it] to her, and she told the riddle to {her people}. The men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went [down], "What [is] sweeter than honey? What [is] stronger than a lion?" And he said to them, "If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle."

While {they were enjoying themselves}, behold, the men of the city, {the perverse lot}, surrounded the house, pounding on the door. And they said to the old man, the owner of the house, "Bring out the man who came to your house so that {we may have sex with him}." So the man, the owner of the house, went out to them and said to them, "No, my brothers, do not act wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this disgraceful thing. Here is my virgin daughter and his concubine. Please, let me bring them out; do violence to them, and do to them {whatever you please}. Do not do this disgraceful thing to this man."read more.
But the men were not willing to listen to him, and the man seized his concubine and brought [her] out to them; and they had intercourse with her, and they abused her all night until the morning; they let her go at the approach of dawn. And the woman came as the morning appeared, and she fell [at] the entrance of the man's house where her master was, until daylight.

Abner said to Joab, "Let the young men come up and fight in our presence." And Joab said, "Let them come up."

On the second day the heads of the {families} of all the people, the priests, and the Levites gathered together to Ezra the scribe to study the words of the law. They found written in the law, which Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses, that the {Israelites} should live in booths during the festival of the seventh month, and that they should proclaim and give voice in all of their cities in Jerusalem, saying, "Go out to the hill and bring olive tree branches, olive oil wood branches, myrtle shrub branches, palm tree branches, and other leafy tree branches to make booths, as it is written."read more.
So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the house of God, in the public square of the Water Gate, and in the public square of the Gate of Ephraim. And all of the assembly of those who returned from captivity made booths and lived in the booths because the {Israelites} had not done it from the days of Jeshua son of Nun until that day. And there was very great joy.

They send out their little ones like the flock, and their children dance around.

There [the] ships sail. Leviathan [is there] that you formed to play with.

I said {to myself}, "Come! I will test pleasure {to see whether it is worthwhile}." But look, "This also [is] vanity!" I said of laughter, "[It is] folly!" and of pleasure, "{What does it accomplish?}" I also {explored} {the effects of indulging my flesh} with wine. My mind guiding me with wisdom, {I investigated} folly so that I might discover what [is] good under heaven for {humans} to do {during the days of their lives}.

Even young people will be faint and grow weary, and [the] young will stumble, exhausted. But those who wait for Yahweh shall renew [their] strength. They shall go up [with] wings like eagles; they shall run and not grow weary; they shall walk and not be faint.

'Why do we fast, and you do not see [it]? We humiliate our soul, and you do not notice [it]?' Look! You find delight on the day of your fast, and you oppress all your workers! Look! You fast to quarrel and strife, and to strike with a {wicked fist}. You shall not fast as [you do] {today}, to {make your voice heard} on the height. Is [the] fast I choose like this, a day for humankind to humiliate {himself}? To bow his head like a reed, and {make} his bed [on] sackcloth and ashes; you call this a fast and a day of pleasure to Yahweh?read more.
Is this not [the] fast I choose: to release [the] bonds of injustice, to untie [the] ropes of [the] yoke, and to let [the] oppressed go free, and {tear} every yoke to pieces? [Is it] not to break your bread for the hungry? You must bring {home} [the] poor, [the] homeless. When you see [the] naked, you must cover him, and you must not hide yourself from your {relatives}. Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall grow quickly. And your salvation shall go before you; the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer. You shall cry for help, and he will say, 'Here I [am]!' If you remove from among you [the] yoke, the {finger-pointing} and {evil speech}, if you offer your soul to the hungry, and you satisfy [the] appetite of [the] afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness, and your darkness [will be] like noon. And Yahweh will lead you continually, and satisfy your soul in a barren land, and he will strengthen your bones, and you shall be like a well-watered garden, and like a spring of water whose water does not fail. And they shall rebuild ancient ruins from you; you shall erect [the] foundations of {many generations,} and {you shall be called} [the] bricklayer [of] [the] breach, [the] restorer of paths to live [in]. If you hold your foot back from [the] Sabbath, [from] doing your affairs on {my holy day}, if you call the Sabbath a pleasure, the holy [day] of Yahweh honorable, if you honor him {more than} doing your ways, than finding your affairs and speaking a word, then you shall take your pleasure in Yahweh, and I will make you ride upon [the] heights of [the] earth, and I will feed you the heritage of Jacob your ancestor, for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken."

[Alas for those] who sing to the tune of the harp; like David they improvise on instruments of music.

And the public squares of the city will be filled [with] boys and girls playing in its public squares.'

"But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces who call out to one another, saying, 'We played the flute for you and you did not dance; we sang a lament and you did not mourn.'

And [while] he was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, [as] he was reclining for a meal, a woman came holding an alabaster flask of very costly perfumed oil of genuine nard. [After] breaking the alabaster flask, she poured [it] out on his head.

And at the same time also, going around from house to house, they learn [to be] idle, and not only idle, but also gossipy and busybodies, saying the things [that are] not necessary.