23 Bible Verses about Recreation

And he said to 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 thy ox and thy 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 is the sabbath of rest, a holy convocation: ye shall do no work in it: 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 sport. 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 mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty 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 early on the morrow, 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.

And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind:

And Samson said to them, I will now propose a riddle to you: if ye can certainly declare it me within the seven days of the feast, and find it out, then I will give you thirty sheets and thirty change of garments: But if ye cannot declare it to me, then shall ye give me thirty sheets and thirty change of garments. And they said to him, propose thy riddle, that we may hear it. And he said to them, Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not in three days expound the riddle.read more.
And it came to pass on the seventh day, that they said to Samson's wife, Entice thy husband, that he may declare to us the riddle, lest we burn thee and thy father's house with fire: have ye called us to take what we possess? is it not so? And Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not: thou hast proposed a riddle to the children of my people, and hast not told it to me. And he said to her, Behold, I have not told it to my father nor to my mother, and shall I tell it to thee? And she wept before him the seven days, while their feast lasted: and it came to pass on the seventh day, that he told her, because she urged him: and she told the riddle to the children of her people. And the men of the city said to 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 to them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye had not found out my riddle.

Now as they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, certain sons of Belial, beset the house on all sides, and beat at the door, 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 to them, and said to them, Nay, my brethren, nay, I pray you, do not so wickedly; seeing that this man is come into my house, do not this folly. Behold, here is my daughter, a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good to you: but to this man do not so vile a thing.read more.
But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth to them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go. Then came the woman in the dawning of the day, and fell down at the door of the man's house where her lord was, till it was light.

And Abner said to Joab, Let the young men now arise, and play before us. And Joab said, Let them arise.

And on the second day were assembled the chief of the fathers of all the people, the priests, and the Levites, to Ezra the scribe, even to understand the words of the law. And they found written in the law which the LORD had commanded by Moses, that the children 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 to the mount, and fetch 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, every one upon the roof of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water-gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim. And all the congregation of them that had returned from the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths: for since the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day, had not the children of Israel done so. And there was very great gladness.

They send forth their little ones like a flock, and their children dance.

There go the ships: there is that leviathan, which thou hast made to play therein.

I said in my heart, Come now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and behold, this also is vanity. I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it? I sought in my heart, to give myself to wine, yet acquainting my heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till 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.

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.

Why have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? why have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labors. 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 this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou shouldst bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou shouldst cover him; and that thou shouldst not hide thyself from thy own flesh? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rear-ward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am. If thou shalt take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; And if thou shalt draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon day: And the LORD will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drouth, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou shalt turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thy own ways, nor finding thy own pleasure, nor speaking thy 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 feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.

That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music, like David;

And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.

But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like to children sitting in the markets, and calling to their fellows, And saying, We have piped to you, and ye have not danced; We have mourned to you, and ye have not lamented.

And being in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, as he sat at table, there came a woman having an alabaster box of ointment of spikenard, very precious; and she broke the box, and poured it on his head.

And at the same time they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle, but tattlers also, and busy-bodies, speaking things which they ought not.