47 Bible Verses about Mourning

"Yet even now," declares the LORD, "Turn back to me with your whole heart, with fasting, tears, and mourning.

When the people heard this troubling word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments. The LORD had told Moses, "Say to the Israelis, "You are an obstinate people, and if for one moment I went up among you, I would put an end to you. Now take off your ornaments so I may decide what to do with you.'" So the Israelis did not wear their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward. read more.
Moses used to take the tent and set it up outside the camp at a distance from the camp, and he called it the Tent of Meeting. When anyone sought the LORD, he would go out to the Tent of Meeting which was outside the camp. When Moses would go out to the tent, all the people would get up, and each would stand in the doorway of his tent, watching Moses until he entered the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stand at the doorway of the tent while God spoke with Moses. When all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the doorway of the tent, all of them would get up and prostrate themselves in worship, each one at the doorway of his tent.

It took 40 days to complete the process, the normal period required for embalming. Meanwhile, the Egyptians mourned for him for 70 days.

Deeply shaken, the king went up to the chamber overlooking the city gate, weeping bitterly and crying out as he went along, "My son Absalom! My son! My son Absalom! I wish I had died instead of you, Absalom my son, my son!"

But Naomi replied, "Don't call me "Naomi'! Call me "Mara'! That's because the Almighty has dealt bitterly with me.

She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, in Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

So the people went to Bethel, sat before God until dusk, where they cried out loud and wept bitterly.

All his sons and daughters showed up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He kept saying, "Leave me alone! I'll go down to the next world, still mourning for my son." So Joseph's father wept for him.

Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, the Lord, says: "There will be dirges in all of the streets; and in all of the highways they will cry out in anguish. They will call the farmer to mourning and those who lament to grieve.

At that time they will fear climbing heights and dangers along the road while the almond tree will blossom, and the grasshopper is weighed down. Desire will cease, because the person goes to his eternal home, and mourners will gather in the marketplace.

Jeremiah sang a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers recite that lamentation about Josiah to this day. In fact, they made singing it an ordinance in Israel, and they are recorded in the Lamentations.

This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Think about what I'm saying! Indeed, call out the professional mourners! Send for the best of them to come.

When Jesus came to the official's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,

Therefore this is what the LORD, the God of the Heavenly Armies, the Lord, says: "There will be dirges in all of the streets; and in all of the highways they will cry out in anguish. They will call the farmer to mourning and those who lament to grieve.

At that time they will fear climbing heights and dangers along the road while the almond tree will blossom, and the grasshopper is weighed down. Desire will cease, because the person goes to his eternal home, and mourners will gather in the marketplace.

Jeremiah sang a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers recite that lamentation about Josiah to this day. In fact, they made singing it an ordinance in Israel, and they are recorded in the Lamentations.

This is what the LORD of the Heavenly Armies says: "Think about what I'm saying! Indeed, call out the professional mourners! Send for the best of them to come.

When Jesus came to the official's house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion,

David ordered Joab and all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn for Abner." King David walked behind the funeral procession,

It took 40 days to complete the process, the normal period required for embalming. Meanwhile, the Egyptians mourned for him for 70 days.

When the entire community saw that Aaron had died, they mourned in memory of Aaron for 30 days.

The Israelis mourned for Moses at the desert plain of Moab for 30 days, after which the period of mourning for Moses was completed.

They mourned and wept, and then decided to fast until dusk for Saul, for his son Jonathan, for the army of the LORD, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen in battle.

When they arrived at Atad's threshing floor, which is located beyond the Jordan River, they held a great and mournful memorial service, during which Joseph spent seven days mourning for his father.

Pharaoh got up during the night, he, all his officials, and all the Egyptians, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, because there was not a house without someone dead in it.

Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and cried until they had no more strength left to cry.

Therefore, this is what the LORD says about Josiah's son Jehoiakim, king of Judah, "They won't lament for him with these words: "How terrible, my brother, How terrible, my sister!' They won't lament for him with these words: "How terrible, lord, How terrible, your majesty!'

Then what was declared by the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled when he said, "A voice was heard in Ramah: wailing and great mourning. Rachel was crying for her children. She refused to be comforted, because they no longer existed."

"You are children of the LORD your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your foreheads on account of the dead,

eighty men from Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria came with their beards shaved, their clothes torn, and their bodies slashed. They had grain offerings and incense with them to present at the LORD's Temple.

"You are not to make incisions in your flesh on account of the dead nor submit to cuts or tattoos. I am the LORD.

The LORD told Moses, "Speak to the priests, Aaron's sons, and tell them that no priest is to defile himself on account of the dead among his people, except his close relatives his mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or virgin sister (who is a near relative of him and did not have a husband he may defile himself for her). read more.
Because he is a husband among his people, he is not to defile himself, thereby polluting himself. "They are not to cut their hair in ritualistic patterns on their heads, deface the edges of their beards, or make incisions in their flesh.

Both the most and the least important people will die in this land, and they won't be buried. People won't mourn for them. They won't cut themselves, nor will they shave their heads for them. They won't break bread for the mourner to be consoled for the dead. They won't give anyone the cup of consolation to drink for his father or mother.

Meanwhile, the king veiled his face and kept on crying loudly, "My son Absalom! Absalom my son, my son!"

David then left, going up the Mount of Olives, crying as he went, with his head covered and his feet bare. All of the people who were with him covered their own heads and climbed up the Mount of Olives, crying as they went along.

Then Mordecai returned to the king's gate, while Haman hurried to his house, mourning and hiding his face.

Their nobles send their young people for water. They go to the cisterns, but they find no water. They return with their vessels empty. They're disappointed and dismayed, and they cover their heads in shame. The ground is cracked, because there has been no rain in the land. The farmers are disappointed, and they cover their heads in shame.

"How blessed are those who mourn, because it is they who will be comforted!

How blessed are you who are hungry now, because you will be satisfied! How blessed are you who are crying now, because you will laugh!

"Now as for me, I would seek God if I were you; I would commit my case to God. He is always doing great things that cannot be explained, countless awesome deeds. He sends rain on the surface of the earth, and waters the surface of the open country. read more.
He sets the lowly on high, and lifts those who mourn to safety.

You are to weep in silence, but you are not to participate in mourning rituals. You are to keep your turban on your head and your sandals on your feet. You are not to cover your mouth or eat what your comforters bring to you."

The person with the infectious skin disease is to tear his garments and loosen his hair. He is to cover his mustache and shout out, "Unclean! Unclean!'

That's why you will soon be doing what I've just done. You are not to cover your mouth or eat what your comforters bring to you.

Those who see visions will be put to shame, and the diviners will be disgraced every one of them they will cover their faces, because there will be no answer from God.'"

"Now you are to stay outside the camp for seven days, after which any of you who has killed a person or touched someone who was killed may purify yourselves on the third day. You and your captives will be pure on the seventh day.

The LORD told Moses, "Speak to the priests, Aaron's sons, and tell them that no priest is to defile himself on account of the dead among his people,

"Whoever comes in contact with the body of a dead person is to remain unclean for seven days. He is to purify himself on the third day and he will be clean on the seventh day. But if he can't purify himself on the third day then he can't be clean on the seventh day. Anyone who comes in contact with a dead person (that is, with the corpse of a human being who has died), but who does not purify himself, defiles the LORD's tent. That person is to be eliminated from Israel, because the water of impurity wasn't sprinkled on him. He remains unclean and his uncleanness will remain with him. read more.
"This is the procedure to follow when a man dies in his tent: Everyone who enters the tent and everyone in it is to remain unclean for seven days. Every open vessel that has no covering fastened around it is to be considered unclean. Whoever is out in an open field and touches the body of someone who was killed by a sword, or a dead body, or someone's bones, or a grave, he is to be considered unclean for seven days.

Then all the people cried again because of him. Everyone tried to persuade David to have a meal while there was still daylight, but David took an oath by saying, "May God to do like this to me and more, if I taste bread or anything else before the sun sets!"

They took their bones, buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.

They mourned and wept, and then decided to fast until dusk for Saul, for his son Jonathan, for the army of the LORD, and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen in battle.

Tamar rubbed her head with ashes, tore her tunic that she was wearing, put her hand to her head, and ran off, crying aloud as she went away.

You will also go out from this place with your hands over your heads. For the LORD has rejected those in whom you trust, and you won't prosper through them."

David then left, going up the Mount of Olives, crying as he went, with his head covered and his feet bare. All of the people who were with him covered their own heads and climbed up the Mount of Olives, crying as they went along.

at that time the LORD spoke through Amoz's son Isaiah: "Go loosen the sackcloth that's around your waist, and take your sandals off your feet." So that's what he did: he went around naked and barefoot.

so he sent messengers to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, "Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup. Act like a woman who's been in mourning for the dead for many days.

So she took off her mourning apparel, covered herself with a shawl, and concealed her outward appearance. Then she went out and sat at the entrance of Enaim, which is on the way to Timnah, because she knew that even though Shelah had grown up, she wasn't being given to him as his wife.

When I heard this, I tore both my garment and robe, plucked hair from both my head and my beard, and collapsed in shock!

"Cut off your hair and throw it away; let your lamentations rise on the barren heights, because the LORD has rejected and abandoned the generation that is subject to his wrath.

They won't present wine offerings to the LORD, nor will they please him. Their sacrifices will seem like food for mourners everyone who eats them will become unclean; none of them will enter the Temple of the LORD.

"I've removed the holy offering from my house and given it to the descendants of Levi, to the foreigners, to the orphans, and to the widows just as you have commanded me. I haven't violated or forgotten your commands. I haven't eaten any part of it while mourning, nor removed any part of it while unclean, nor offered any of it to the dead. I've obeyed the voice of the LORD my God and did all that he commanded me.

Then Moses told Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "You are not to loosen the hair of your head and you are not to rend your clothes. That way, you won't die and wrath won't come on the entire congregation. Your brothers and the assembly of Israel will mourn because of the fire that the LORD kindled.

"The high priest among his relatives whose head has been anointed with oil and who has been consecrated to put on the priestly clothing is not to let his hair hang loose or to tear his clothes.

As the righteous grow powerful, people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, people groan.

And so the land will mourn, families by families, alone by themselves the family of the house of David by itself with their wives by themselves, the family of the house of Nathan by itself with their wives by themselves,

all of the surviving families by themselves, along with their wives by themselves.

Rejoice with those who are rejoicing. Cry with those who are crying.

"But how terrible it will be for you who are rich, because you have had your comfort! How terrible it will be for you who are full now, because you will be hungry! How terrible it will be for you who are laughing now, because you will mourn and cry!

So David intoned this song of lament about Saul and his son Jonathan, and he gave orders to teach the descendants of Judah the art of warfare, as is recorded in the Book of Jashar: "Your beauty, Israel, lies slain on your high places! O, how the valiant have fallen! read more.
Don't make it known in Gath! Don't declare it in the avenues of Ashkelon! Otherwise, the daughters of Philistia will rejoice; and the daughters of the uncircumcised will triumph. Mountains of Gilboa, let no dew or rain fall on you, and may none of your fields be filled with plenty, because in that place the shield of the valiant ones was defiled, the shield of Saul without an anointing with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the blood of the valiant, Jonathan's bow would not retreat nor would Saul's sword return empty. Saul and Jonathan, loved and handsome in life, in death were not separated. Swifter than eagles they were, and more valiant than lions. Daughters of Israel, weep over Saul! He clothed you in scarlet luxury and decorated your garments with gold. How have the valiant fallen in the tumult of battle! Jonathan lies slain on your high places. I am in distress for you, my brother Jonathan. You have been most kind to me. Your love for me was extraordinary beyond love from women. How the valiant have fallen! How the weapons of war are destroyed!"

The king composed this mourning song for Abner: "Should Abner's death be like a fool's? Your hands were not bound, nor were your feet in irons. As one falls before the wicked, you have fallen."

The LORD told Moses, "Speak to the priests, Aaron's sons, and tell them that no priest is to defile himself on account of the dead among his people, except his close relatives his mother, father, son, daughter, brother, or virgin sister (who is a near relative of him and did not have a husband he may defile himself for her). read more.
Because he is a husband among his people, he is not to defile himself, thereby polluting himself. "They are not to cut their hair in ritualistic patterns on their heads, deface the edges of their beards, or make incisions in their flesh. They are to be holy to their God. They are not to defile the name of their God, because they're the ones who bring the offerings of the LORD made by fire the food of their God so they are to be holy. "They are not to marry a prostitute or a woman who has been dishonored or who was divorced from her husband, because the priest is holy to his God. Consecrate him, because he's the one who offers the food of your God. He is to be holy for you, because I, the LORD, the one who sanctifies you, am holy. "Now if the daughter of any priest defiles herself by being a prostitute, she defiles her father. She is to be incinerated. "The high priest among his relatives whose head has been anointed with oil and who has been consecrated to put on the priestly clothing is not to let his hair hang loose or to tear his clothes. He is not to come near any dead body whether the deceased is his father or his mother so as not to defile himself.

Deeply shaken, the king went up to the chamber overlooking the city gate, weeping bitterly and crying out as he went along, "My son Absalom! My son! My son Absalom! I wish I had died instead of you, Absalom my son, my son!"

After this, the LORD afflicted the child that Uriah's wife had born to David, and the child became very ill. David begged God on behalf of the youngster. He fasted, went inside, and spent the night lying on the ground.

Jeremiah sang a lament for Josiah, and all the male and female singers recite that lamentation about Josiah to this day. In fact, they made singing it an ordinance in Israel, and they are recorded in the Lamentations.

Then Joseph embraced his father, cried over him, and kissed him. After this, he issued orders to his physician servants to embalm his father. So they embalmed Israel. It took 40 days to complete the process, the normal period required for embalming. Meanwhile, the Egyptians mourned for him for 70 days.

When the people heard this troubling word, they mourned, and no one put on his ornaments.

So the Israelis did not wear their ornaments from Mount Horeb onward.

and they will cry so loud you won't be able to make yourself heard! How bitterly they'll cry! They'll throw dust on their heads and wallow in ashes.

so he sent messengers to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, "Please play the role of a mourner, wear the clothes of a mourner, and refrain from using makeup. Act like a woman who's been in mourning for the dead for many days.

When the entire community saw that Aaron had died, they mourned in memory of Aaron for 30 days.

and her gates lament and mourn. Ravaged, she will sit on the ground."

"Judah mourns, and her gates languish. The people mourn for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem goes up.

Then Moses told Aaron and his sons Eleazar and Ithamar, "You are not to loosen the hair of your head and you are not to rend your clothes. That way, you won't die and wrath won't come on the entire congregation. Your brothers and the assembly of Israel will mourn because of the fire that the LORD kindled.

She died in Kiriath-arba (that is, in Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.

At this, Joshua tore his clothes, fell down to the ground on his face before the ark of the LORD until evening he and the leaders of Israel and they covered their heads with dust.