47 Bible Verses about Mourning

But even now, says the Lord, come back to me with all your heart, keeping from food, with weeping and with sorrow:

Hearing this bad news the people were full of grief, and no one put on his ornaments. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the children of Israel, You are a stiff-necked people: if I come among you, even for a minute, I will send destruction on you; so take off all your ornaments, so that I may see what to do with you. So the children of Israel took off their ornaments at Mount Horeb, and did not put them on again. read more.
Now it was Moses' way to put up the Tent of meeting outside the tent-circle, at some distance away; giving it the name of The Tent of meeting. And everyone desiring to make his prayer to the Lord went to the Tent of meeting outside the tent-circle. And whenever Moses went out to the Tent of meeting, all the people got up and everyone went to the door of his tent, looking after Moses till he went inside the Tent. And whenever Moses went into the Tent, the pillar of cloud came down, and took its place by the door of the Tent, as long as the Lord was talking with Moses. And all the people saw the cloud at the door of the Tent, and they went down on their faces, everyone at the door of his tent.

And the forty days needed for making the body ready went by: and there was weeping for him among the Egyptians for seventy days.

Then the king was much moved, and went up into the room over the door, weeping, and saying, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! if only my life might have been given for yours, O Absalom, my son, my son!

And she said to them, Do not let my name be Naomi, but Mara, for the Ruler of all has given me a bitter fate.

And Sarah's death took place in Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan: and Abraham went into his house, weeping and sorrowing for Sarah.

And the people came to Beth-el, waiting there till evening before God, and gave themselves up to bitter weeping.

And all his sons and all his daughters came to give him comfort, but he would not be comforted, saying with weeping, I will go down to the underworld to my son. So great was his father's sorrow for him.

So these are the words of the Lord, the God of armies, the Lord: There will be weeping in all the open spaces; and in all the streets they will say, Sorrow! sorrow! and they will get in the farmer to the weeping, and the makers of sad songs to give cries of grief.

And he is in fear of that which is high, and danger is in the road, and the tree is white with flower, and the least thing is a weight, and desire is at an end, because man goes to his last resting-place, and those who are sorrowing are in the streets;

And Jeremiah made a song of grief for Josiah; and to this day Josiah is named by all the makers of melody, men and women, in their songs of grief; they made it a rule in Israel; and the songs are recorded among the songs of grief.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: Take thought and send for the weeping women, so that they may come; and send for the wise women, so that they may come:

And when Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the players with their instruments and the people making a noise,

So these are the words of the Lord, the God of armies, the Lord: There will be weeping in all the open spaces; and in all the streets they will say, Sorrow! sorrow! and they will get in the farmer to the weeping, and the makers of sad songs to give cries of grief.

And he is in fear of that which is high, and danger is in the road, and the tree is white with flower, and the least thing is a weight, and desire is at an end, because man goes to his last resting-place, and those who are sorrowing are in the streets;

And Jeremiah made a song of grief for Josiah; and to this day Josiah is named by all the makers of melody, men and women, in their songs of grief; they made it a rule in Israel; and the songs are recorded among the songs of grief.

This is what the Lord of armies has said: Take thought and send for the weeping women, so that they may come; and send for the wise women, so that they may come:

And when Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the players with their instruments and the people making a noise,

And David said to Joab and all the people who were with him, Go in grief and put haircloth about you, in sorrow for Abner. And King David went after the dead body.

And the forty days needed for making the body ready went by: and there was weeping for him among the Egyptians for seventy days.

And when the people saw that Aaron was dead, all the children of Israel gave themselves up to weeping for him for thirty days.

For thirty days the children of Israel were weeping for Moses in the table-lands of Moab, till the days of weeping and sorrow for Moses were ended.

And till evening they gave themselves to sorrow and weeping, and took no food, weeping for Saul and for Jonathan, his son, and for the people of the Lord and for the men of Israel; because they had come to their end by the sword.

And they came to the grain-floor of Atad on the other side of Jordan, and there they gave the last honours to Jacob, with great and bitter sorrow, weeping for their father for seven days.

Then Pharaoh got up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians; and a great cry went up from Egypt; for there was not a house where someone was not dead.

Then David and the people who were with him gave themselves up to weeping till they were able to go on weeping no longer.

So this is what the Lord has said about Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They will make no weeping for him, saying, Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they will make no weeping for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah his glory!

Then the word of Jeremiah the prophet came true, In Ramah there was a sound of weeping and great sorrow, Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted for their loss.

You are the children of the Lord your God: you are not to make cuts on your bodies or take off the hair on your brows in honour of the dead;

Some people came from Shechem, from Shiloh and Samaria, eighty men, with the hair of their faces cut off and their clothing out of order, and with cuts on their bodies, and in their hands meal offerings and perfumes which they were taking to the house of the Lord.

You may not make cuts in your flesh in respect for the dead, or have marks printed on your bodies: I am the Lord.

And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron, Let no man make himself unclean for the dead among his people; But only for his near relations, for his mother or his father, his son or his daughter, and his brother; And for his sister, a virgin, for she is his near relation and has had no husband, he may make himself unclean. read more.
But let him, being a chief among his people, not make himself unclean in such a way as to put shame on himself. They are not to have their hair cut off for the dead, or the hair on their chins cut short, or make cuts in their flesh.

Death will overtake great as well as small in the land: their bodies will not be put in a resting-place, and no one will be weeping for them or wounding themselves or cutting off their hair for them: No one will make a feast for them in sorrow, to give them comfort for the dead, or put to their lips the cup of comfort on account of their father or their mother.

But the king, covering his face, gave a great cry, O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!

And David went up the slopes of the Mount of Olives weeping all the way, with his head covered and no shoes on his feet: and all the people who were with him, covering their heads, went up weeping.

And Mordecai came back to the king's doorway. But Haman went quickly back to his house, sad and with his head covered.

Their great men have sent their servants for water: they come to the holes and there is no water to be seen; they come back with nothing in their vessels; they are overcome with shame and fear, covering their heads. Those who do work on the land are in fear, for there has been no rain on the land, and the farmers are shamed, covering their heads.

Happy are those who are sad: for they will be comforted.

Happy are you who are in need of food now: for you will be made full. Happy are you who are weeping now; for you will be glad.

But as for me, I would make my prayer to God, and I would put my cause before him: Who does great things outside our knowledge, wonders without number: Who gives rain on the earth, and sends water on the fields: read more.
Lifting up those who are low, and putting the sad in a safe place;

Let there be no sound of sorrow; make no weeping for your dead, put on your head-dress and your shoes on your feet, let not your lips be covered, and do not take the food of those in grief.

And the leper who has the disease on him is to go about with signs of grief, with his hair loose and his mouth covered, crying, Unclean, unclean.

And you will do as I have done, not covering your lips or taking the food of those in grief.

And the seers will be shamed, and the readers of the future will be at a loss, all of them covering their lips; for there is no answer from God.

You yourselves will have to keep outside the tent-circle for seven days, anyone of you who has put any person to death or come near a dead body; and on the third day and on the seventh day make yourselves and your prisoners clean.

And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron, Let no man make himself unclean for the dead among his people;

Anyone touching a dead body will be unclean for seven days: On the third day and on the seventh day he is to make himself clean with the water, and so he will be clean: but if he does not do this on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean. Anyone touching the body of a dead man without making himself clean in this way, makes the House of the Lord unclean; and that man will be cut off from Israel: because the water was not put on him, he will be unclean; his unclean condition is unchanged. read more.
This is the law when death comes to a man in his tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, will be unclean for seven days. And every open vessel without a cover fixed on it will be unclean. And anyone touching one who has been put to death with the sword in the open country, or the body of one who has come to his end by a natural death, or a man's bone, or the resting-place of a dead body, will be unclean for seven days.

And the people came to make David take food, while it was still day, but David with an oath said, May God's punishment be on me if I take a taste of bread or any other thing till the sun has gone down!

And their bones they put in the earth under a tree in Jabesh; and for seven days they took no food.

And till evening they gave themselves to sorrow and weeping, and took no food, weeping for Saul and for Jonathan, his son, and for the people of the Lord and for the men of Israel; because they had come to their end by the sword.

And Tamar, in her grief, put dust on her head; and she put her hand on her head and went away crying loudly.

Truly, you will go out from him with your hands on your head: for the Lord has given up those in whom you have put your faith, and they will be of no help to you.

And David went up the slopes of the Mount of Olives weeping all the way, with his head covered and no shoes on his feet: and all the people who were with him, covering their heads, went up weeping.

At that time the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, the son of Amoz, saying, Go, and take off your robe, and your shoes from your feet; and he did so, walking unclothed and without shoes on his feet.

And Joab sent to Tekoa and got from there a wise woman, and said to her, Now make yourself seem like one given up to grief, and put on the clothing of sorrow, not using any sweet oil for your body, but looking like one who for a long time has been weeping for the dead:

She took off her widow's clothing, and covering herself with her veil, she took her seat near Enaim on the road to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was now a man, but she had not been made his wife.

And hearing this, with signs of grief and pulling out the hair of my head and my chin, I took my seat on the earth deeply troubled.

Let your hair be cut off, O Jerusalem, and let it go, and let a song of grief go up on the open hilltops; for the Lord is turned away from the generation of his wrath and has given them up.

They will give no wine offering to the Lord, they will not make offerings ready for him; their bread will be like the bread of those in sorrow; all who take it will be unclean, because their bread will be only for their desire, it will not come into the house of the Lord.

No part of these things has been used for food in a time of weeping, or put away when I was unclean, or given for the dead: I have given ear to the voice of the Lord my God, and have done all you have given me orders to do.

And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, Do not let your hair be loose, and give no signs of grief; so that death may not overtake you, and his wrath come on all the people; but let there be weeping among your brothers and all the house of Israel for this burning of the Lord's fire.

And he who is the chief priest among his brothers, on whose head the holy oil has been put, who is marked out to put on the holy robes, may not let his hair go loose or have his clothing out of order as a sign of sorrow.

When the upright have power, the people are glad; when an evil man is ruler, grief comes on the people.

And the land will give itself to weeping, every family separately; the family of David by themselves, and their wives by themselves; the family of Nathan by themselves, and their wives by themselves;

And all the other families by themselves, and their wives by themselves.

Take part in the joy of those who are glad, and in the grief of those who are sorrowing.

But unhappy are you who have wealth: for you have been comforted now. Unhappy are you who are full of food now: for you will be in need. Unhappy are you who are laughing now: for you will be crying in sorrow.

Then David made this song of grief for Saul and Jonathan, his son: (It is recorded in the book of Jashar for teaching to the sons of Judah) and he said: The glory, O Israel, is dead on your high places! How have the great ones been made low! read more.
Give no news of it in Gath, let it not be said in the streets of Ashkelon; or the daughters of the Philistines will be glad, the daughters of men without circumcision will be uplifted in joy. O mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain on you, you fields of death: for there the arms of the strong have been shamed, the arms of Saul, as if he had not been marked with the holy oil. From the blood of the dead, from the fat of the strong, the bow of Jonathan was not turned back, the sword of Saul did not come back unused. Saul and Jonathan were loved and pleasing; in their lives and in their death they were not parted; they went more quickly than eagles, they were stronger than lions. O daughters of Israel, have sorrow for Saul, by whom you were delicately clothed in robes of red, with ornaments of gold on your dresses. How have the great ones been made low in the fight! Jonathan is dead on your high places. I am full of grief for you, my brother Jonathan: very dear have you been to me: your love for me was a wonder, greater than the love of women. How have the great ones been made low, and the arms of war broken!

And the king made a song of grief for Abner and said, Was the death of Abner to be like the death of a foolish man? Your hands were free, your feet were not chained: like the downfall of a man before evil men, so was your fall. And the weeping of the people over him went on again.

And the Lord said to Moses, Say to the priests, the sons of Aaron, Let no man make himself unclean for the dead among his people; But only for his near relations, for his mother or his father, his son or his daughter, and his brother; And for his sister, a virgin, for she is his near relation and has had no husband, he may make himself unclean. read more.
But let him, being a chief among his people, not make himself unclean in such a way as to put shame on himself. They are not to have their hair cut off for the dead, or the hair on their chins cut short, or make cuts in their flesh. Let them be holy to their God and not make the name of their God common; for the fire offerings of the Lord and the bread of their God are offered by them, and they are to be holy. They may not take as wife a loose or common woman, or one who has been put away by her husband: for the priest is holy to his God. And he is to be holy in your eyes, for by him the bread of your God is offered; he is to be holy in your eyes, for I the Lord, who make you holy, am holy. And if the daughter of a priest makes herself common and by her loose behaviour puts shame on her father, let her be burned with fire. And he who is the chief priest among his brothers, on whose head the holy oil has been put, who is marked out to put on the holy robes, may not let his hair go loose or have his clothing out of order as a sign of sorrow. He may not go near any dead body or make himself unclean for his father or his mother;

Then the king was much moved, and went up into the room over the door, weeping, and saying, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! if only my life might have been given for yours, O Absalom, my son, my son!

So David made prayer to God for the child; and he took no food day after day, and went in and, stretching himself out on the earth, was there all night.

And Jeremiah made a song of grief for Josiah; and to this day Josiah is named by all the makers of melody, men and women, in their songs of grief; they made it a rule in Israel; and the songs are recorded among the songs of grief.

And Joseph put his head down on his father's face, weeping and kissing him. And Joseph gave orders to his servants who had the necessary knowledge, to make his father's body ready, folding it in linen with spices, and they did so. And the forty days needed for making the body ready went by: and there was weeping for him among the Egyptians for seventy days.

Hearing this bad news the people were full of grief, and no one put on his ornaments.

So the children of Israel took off their ornaments at Mount Horeb, and did not put them on again.

And their voices will be sounding over you, and crying bitterly they will put dust on their heads, rolling themselves in the dust:

And Joab sent to Tekoa and got from there a wise woman, and said to her, Now make yourself seem like one given up to grief, and put on the clothing of sorrow, not using any sweet oil for your body, but looking like one who for a long time has been weeping for the dead:

And when the people saw that Aaron was dead, all the children of Israel gave themselves up to weeping for him for thirty days.

And in the public places of her towns will be sorrow and weeping; and she will be seated on the earth, waste and uncovered.

Judah is weeping and its doors are dark with sorrow, and people are seated on the earth clothed in black; and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

And Moses said to Aaron and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons, Do not let your hair be loose, and give no signs of grief; so that death may not overtake you, and his wrath come on all the people; but let there be weeping among your brothers and all the house of Israel for this burning of the Lord's fire.

And Sarah's death took place in Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron, in the land of Canaan: and Abraham went into his house, weeping and sorrowing for Sarah.

Then Joshua, in great grief, went down on the earth before the ark of the Lord till the evening, and all the chiefs of Israel with him, and they put dust on their heads.