81 Bible Verses about Unhappiness

The days of our age are threescore years and ten: and though men be so strong that they come to fourscore years, yet is their strength then but labour and sorrow; so soon passeth it away, and we are gone.

And as they did eat, he said, "Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me." And they were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, "Is it I, master?"

And they began to mourn, and to say to him one by one, "Is it I?" And another said, "Is it I?"

When Esau was forty years old, he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri, an Hittite, and Basemath the daughter of Elon, an Hittite also, which were disobedient unto Isaac and Rebekah.

When Joseph came in unto them in the morning, and looked upon them: behold, they were sad. And he asked them, saying, "Wherefore look ye so sadly today?"

And he turned from them and wept, and then turned to them again and communed with them, and took out Simeon from among them and bound him before their eyes,

Then said Elkanah her husband to her, "Hannah why weepest thou? And why eatest thou not? And why is thine heart so troubled? Am not I better to thee, than ten sons?"

When I heard these words, I sat me down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven,

In the month Nisan in the twentieth year of king Artaxerxes, when the wine stood before him, I took up the wine, and gave it unto the king and I was heavy in his presence. Then said the king unto me, "Why lookest thou so sadly? Thou art not sick, that is not the matter, but thou art heavy hearted." Nevertheless I was sore afraid and said unto the king, "God save the king's life forever, should I not look sadly? The city of my fathers' burial lieth waste and the gates thereof are consumed with fire."

Mine eye is dim for very heaviness, and all my strength is become like a shadow.

Did not I weep in the time of trouble? Had not my soul compassion upon the poor?

Why standest thou so far off, O LORD, and hidest thy face in the needful time of trouble?

How long shall I seek counsel in my soul, and be so vexed in my heart? How long shall mine enemies triumph over me?

Have mercy upon me, O LORD, for I am in trouble, and mine eye is consumed for very heaviness, yea my soul and my body.

An unwise body bringeth himself in to sorrow; and the father of a fool can have no joy.

The fishers shall mourn, all such as cast angles in the water shall complain, and they that spread their nets in the water shall be faint hearted. Such as labour upon flax and silk, shall come to poverty, and they also that weave fine works. For their open works shall be even destroyed, and all they that make pounds and slues for fish shall come to naught.

Insomuch as thou thoughtest thus, when thou wast writing, 'Woe is me, the LORD hath given me pain for my travail: I have wearied myself with sighing, and shall I find no rest?'

And it was told Joab, how that the king wept and mourned for Absalom.

But now go I my way to him that sent me, and none of you asketh me, 'Whither goest thou?' But because I have said such things unto you, your hearts are full of sorrow.

And in process of time, the daughter of Shuah Judah's wife died. Then Judah, when he had left mourning, went unto his sheep shearers to Timnath with his friend Hirah of Adullam.

And he said, "My son shall not go down with you. For his brother is dead, and he is left alone. Moreover, some misfortune might happen upon him by the way which ye go. And so should ye bring my gray head with sorrow unto the grave."

And after I came from Mesopotamia, Rachel died upon my hand in the land of Canaan, by the way: when I had but a field's breadth to go unto Ephrata. And I buried her there in the way to Ephrata which is now called Bethlehem."

Woe is me for thee, my brother Jonathan! Delectable to me wast thou, exceeding. Thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.

he sent to Tekoa, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, "Feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel. And anoint not thyself with oil. But be as a woman that had long time mourned for the death of somebody.

Make thy moan as a virgin doth that girdeth herself with sack, because of her bridegroom.

and they shall kill him, and the third day he shall rise again." And they sorrowed greatly.

And he rose up from prayer, and came to his disciples, and found them sleeping for sorrow,

And he said unto them, "What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye walk, and are sad?"

Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: And as she wept, she bowed herself into the sepulchre

sorrowing, most of all, for the words, which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship.

and no doubt he was sick, and that nigh unto death, but God had mercy on him: not on him only, but on me also, lest I should have had sorrow upon sorrow.

I would not, brethren, have you ignorant concerning them which are fallen asleep, that ye sorrow not as others do which have no hope.

and the LORD said unto him, "Go thy way through the city of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of them that mourn and are sorry for all the abominations that be done therein."

There goeth a common saying that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not once named among the gentiles: that one should have his father's wife. And ye swell and have not rather sorrowed, that he which hath done this deed might be put from among you.

And Moses told these sayings unto all the children of Israel, and the people took great sorrow.

Then the children of Israel and all the people went up and came unto Bethel, and wept and sat there before the LORD, and fasted the same day unto evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

And the children of Israel had pity on Benjamin their brethren, and said, "There is one tribe cut off from Israel this day:

Yet will I will not root out every man of thee from mine altar, but that thine eyes may be consumed, and thy soul may be sorry. And a great multitude of thine house shall die young.

And Nehemiah - which is Hathirsatha - and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites that caused the people to take heed, said unto all the people, "This day is holy unto the LORD your God: be not ye sorry therefore, and weep not." For all the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Therefore said he unto them, "Go your way, and eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send part unto them also that have not prepared themselves: for this day is holy unto our LORD. Be not ye sorry therefore: for the joy of the LORD is your strength." And the Levites stilled all the people, and said, "Hold your peace, for the day is holy: vex not ye yourselves."

{A Psalm and song of the sons of Korah, to the Chanter upon Mahalath, to give thanks, an Instruction of Heman the Ezrahite} O LORD God my Savior, I have cried day and night before thee; O let my prayer enter into thy presence. Incline thine ear unto my calling. For my soul is full of trouble, and my life draweth nigh unto hell.read more.
I am counted as one of them that go down into the pit, and I am even as a man that hath no strength; free among the dead, like unto them that lie in the grave, which be out of remembrance, and are cut away from thy hand. Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in a place of darkness and in the deep. Thine indignation lieth hard upon me, and thou hast vexed me with all thy floods. Selah. Thou hast put away mine acquaintance far from me, and made me to be abhorred of them. I am so fast in prison that I cannot get forth. My sight faileth for very trouble: LORD, I have called daily upon thee, I have stretched forth my hands unto thee.

When they are minished and brought low through oppression, through any plague or trouble,

{Daleth} The streets of Zion mourn, because no man cometh to the solemn feasts. All her gates are desolate; her priests make lamentation; her maidens are careful; and she herself is in great heaviness. {He} Her enemies have been rulers over her, and have prospered: because the LORD hath chastened her for her great wickedness. Her children are led away captive before their enemy.

Mourn therefore, O thou son of man, that thy loins crack withal; yea mourn bitterly for them. And if they say, 'Wherefore mournest thou?' Then tell them, 'For the tidings that cometh, at the which all hearts shall melt, all hands shall be letten down, all stomachs shall faint, and all knees shall wax feeble.' Behold, it cometh, and shall be fulfilled, sayeth the LORD God.'"

Moreover, upon the house of David and upon the citizens of Jerusalem, will I pour out the spirit of grace and prayer, so that they shall look upon me, whom they have pierced: and they shall beweep him, as men mourn for their only begotten son: Yea, and be sorry for him, as men are sorry for their first child

Then when Judas, which betrayed him, saw that he was condemned, he repented himself; and brought again the thirty plates of silver to the chief priests and elders,

And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.

that I have great heaviness, and continual sorrow in my heart.

For if I make you sorry: who is it that should make me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? And I wrote this same epistle unto you, lest if I came, I should take heaviness of them, of whom I ought to rejoice. Certainly this confidence have I in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. For in great affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears: not to make you sorry, but that ye might perceive the love which I have most specially unto you.read more.
If any man hath caused sorrow, the same hath not made me sorry: but partly - lest I should grieve - you all.

Wherefore though I made you sorry with a letter I repent not: though I did repent. For I perceive that that same Epistle made you sorry though it were but for a season. But I now rejoice, not that ye were sorry, but that ye so sorrowed, that ye repented. For ye sorrowed godly: so that in nothing were ye hurt by us. For godly sorrow causeth repentance, unto salvation not to be repented of: when worldly sorrow causeth death.read more.
Behold what diligence this godly sorrow that ye took hath wrought in you: yea it caused you to clear yourselves. It caused indignation, it caused fear, it caused desire, it caused a fervent mind, it caused punishment. For in all things ye have showed yourselves that ye were clear in that matter.

For covetousness is the root of all evil, which while some lusted after, they erred from the faith, and tangled themselves with many sorrows.

Then went Ahab unto his house wayward and evil apaid, because of the words which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken unto him, saying, "I will not give to thee the inheritance of my fathers." And he laid him down upon his bed and turned away his face, and would eat no meat.

Where is woe? Where is sorrow? Where is strife? Where is brawling? Where are wounds without cause? Where be red eyes? Even among those that be ever at the wine, and seek excess.

When the young man heard that saying, he went away mourning. For he had great possessions.

But he was discomforted with that saying, and went away mourning, for he had great possessions.

When he heard that, he was heavy, for he was very rich.

And Jesus wept.

Then said Jesus unto them, "My soul is heavy even unto the death. Tarry ye here: and watch with me."

And said unto them, "My soul is very heavy even unto the death, tarry here and watch."

When Jesus saw her weep, and the Jews also weep, which came with her; He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled in himself,

"Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say, 'Father deliver me from this hour?' But therefore came I unto this hour.

When Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in the spirit, and testified saying, "Verily, verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me."

he repented that he had made man upon the earth and sorrowed in his heart. And said, "I will destroy mankind which I have made, from off the face of the earth: both man, beast, worm and fowl of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them."

And grieve not the holy spirit of God, by whom ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.

And the LORD said, "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is exceeding grievous.

"It repenteth me that I have made Saul king. For he is turned from me and hath not performed my commandments." Wherefore Samuel was evil apaid and cried unto the LORD all night.

And when the Angel stretched out his hand unto Jerusalem to have destroyed it, the LORD had compassion to do that evil, and said to the Angel that destroyed the people, "It is sufficient: let thine hand cease." And the Angel was at the threshing place of Araunah the Jebusite.

O how oft did they grieve him in the wilderness? How many a time did they provoke him in the desert?

But after they provoked him to wrath and vexed his holy mind, he was their enemy, and fought against them himself.

If ye will dwell in this land, I shall build you up, and not break you down. I shall plant you, and not root you out. For I am pacified, as concerning the trouble that I have done to you.

But though he do cast off, yet according to the multitude of his mercies, he receiveth to grace again. For he doth not plague, and cast out the children of men from his heart.

in the which time ye shall rejoice, though now for a season - if need require - ye are in heaviness, through manifold temptations,

My beauty is gone for very trouble, and worn away because of all mine enemies. Away from me, all ye that work vanity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.

Surely thou hast seen it; for thou beholdest ungodliness and wrong, that thou mayest take the matter into thy hand. The poor committeth himself unto thee, for thou art the helper of the friendless.

I am well pleased, that the LORD hath heard the voice of my prayer, that he hath inclined his ear unto me; therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The snares of death compassed me round about, the pains of hell got hold upon me.read more.
I shall find trouble and heaviness, and I will call upon the Name of the LORD, "O LORD, I beseech thee, deliver my soul." Gracious is the LORD, and righteous, yea our God is merciful. The LORD preserveth the simple; I was brought down in misery and he helped me.

And the redeemed of the LORD shall convert, and come to Zion with thanksgiving. Everlasting joy shall they have, pleasure and gladness shall be among them. And as for all sorrow and heaviness, it shall vanish away.

That the redeemed of the LORD, which turned again, might come with joy unto Zion, there to endure forever? That mirth and gladness might be with them? That sorrow and woe might flee from them?

Thy Sun shall never go down, and thy Moon shall not be taken away, for the LORD himself shall be thine everlasting light, and thy sorrowful days shall be rewarded thee.

The spirit of the LORD God is with me, for the LORD hath anointed me, and sent me to preach good tidings unto the poor: that I might bind up the wounded hearts, that I might preach deliverance to the captive, and open the prison to them that are bound; That I might declare the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of the vengeance of our God; that I might comfort all them that are in heaviness. That I might give unto them that mourn in Zion, beauty in the stead of ashes, joyful ointment for sighing, pleasant raiment for a heavy mind; That they might be called excellent in righteousness, a planting of the LORD for him to rejoice in.

Sorrow is come upon me, and heaviness vexeth my heart:

And they shall come, and rejoice upon the hill of Zion, and shall have plenteousness of goods, which the LORD shall give them: Namely, wheat, wine, oil, young sheep and calves. And their conscience shall be as a well-watered garden, for they shall no more be hungry. Then shall the maid rejoice in the dance, yea both young and old folks. For I will turn their sorrow into gladness, and will comfort them and make them joyful, even from their hearts.

Verily, verily I say unto you, Ye shall weep and lament, and the world shall rejoice. Ye shall sorrow: but your sorrow shall be turned to joy. A woman when she travaileth hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now are in sorrow: but I will see you again, and your hearts shall rejoice, and your joy shall no man take from you.