81 Bible Verses about Unhappiness
Most Relevant Verses
As for the days of our years, within them [are] seventy years or if by strength eighty years, and their pride [is] trouble and disaster, for it passes quickly and we fly [away].
And [while] they were eating he said, "Truly I say to you, that one of you will betray me." And greatly distressed, each one began to say to him, "{Surely I am not he, am I}, Lord?"
They began to be distressed and to say to him one by one, "Surely not I?"
And [when] Esau was forty years old he took as wife Judith, daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Basemath, daughter of Elon the Hittite. And {they made life bitter} for Isaac and Rebekah.
When Joseph came to them in the morning he looked at them, and behold, they were troubled. And he asked the court officials of Pharaoh that [were] with him in the custody of his master's house, "Why [are] your faces sad today?"
And he turned away from them and wept. Then he returned to them and spoke to them, and took Simeon from them and tied him up in front of them.
So Elkanah her husband would say to her: "Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat? And {why are you heartsick}? Am I not better to you than ten sons?"
When I heard these words, I sat and wept and mourned for days, and I was fasting and praying before the God of the heavens.
It happened in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, I carried the wine and gave it to the king. And I had never been sad before the king. So the king said to me, "Why is your face sad since you are not sick? This is nothing but sadness of the heart." And I was very much afraid. I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city of my ancestors' burial site is ruined and her gates are consumed by fire?"
How long must I take counsel in my soul, [and] sorrow in my heart [all the] day? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?
Be gracious [to] me, O Yahweh, because I have distress. My eye wastes away because of vexation, [along with] my soul and my {body}.
He who begets a fool, [there is] trouble for him; the father of a fool will not rejoice.
And the fishers will mourn, and all of those who cast fishhooks in the Nile will lament, and those who spread out fishing nets on [the] {surface} of [the] water will languish. And [the] workers of combed flax will be ashamed, and those who weave white linen. And her weavers will be crushed; all [the] {hired workers} [will be] grieved of heart.
'You said, "Woe please to me, for Yahweh has added sorrow to my pain. I am weary in my groaning and I do not find rest." '
And it was told to Joab that the king [was] weeping and he mourned over Absalom,
But now I am going away to the one who sent me, and none of you is asking me, 'Where are you going?' But because I have said these [things] to you, sorrow has filled your hearts.
{And in the course of time} the daughter of Shua, the wife of Judah, died. When Judah was consoled he went up to his sheepshearers, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite, to Timnah.
But he said, "My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone remains. [If] harm meets him on the journey that you would take, you would bring down my gray head in sorrow to Sheol."
As for me, when I came to Paddan-Aram Rachel died {to my sorrow} in the land of Canaan on the way when [there was] still some distance to go to Ephrath. And I buried her there on the way to Ephrath (that [is], Bethlehem)."
{I am distressed} over you, my brother Jonathan. you [were] very dear to me; your love [was] more wonderful to me than the love of women.
So Joab sent to Tekoa and took from there a wise woman, and he said to her, "Please pretend to mourn and put on garments of mourning. You should not anoint yourself [with] oil, and you must act like this woman who has been mourning over the dead for {a long time}.
and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised." And they were extremely distressed.
And [when he] got up from the prayer [and] came to the disciples, he found them sleeping from sorrow,
And he said to them, "What [are] these matters that you are discussing with one another [as you] are walking along?" And they stood still, looking sad.
But Mary stood outside at the tomb, weeping. Then, while she was weeping, she bent over to look into the tomb,
especially distressed at the statement that he had said, that they were going to see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.
For indeed he was sick, coming near to death, but God had mercy on him and not [on] him only, but also [on] me, so that I would not have grief upon grief.
Now we do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you will not grieve as also the rest, who have no hope.
And Yahweh said to him, "Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and you must place a mark on the foreheads of the men {who are groaning and lamenting} about all of the detestable things {that are being done} in the midst of her."
It is reported everywhere [that there] is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind which [does] not [even exist] among the Gentiles, so that someone has the wife of [his] father. And you are inflated with pride, and should you not rather have mourned, so that the one who has done this deed would be removed from your midst?
And Moses spoke words to all the {Israelites}, and the people mourned greatly.
And all the {Israelites} and all the troops went up and came to Bethel and wept; and they sat there before Yahweh and fasted on that day until evening; and they offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before Yahweh.
But the {Israelites} had compassion for Benjamin, their relatives, and they said, "Today one tribe is cut off from Israel.
The only one I will not cut off from my altar [is you]. [Rather], to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, {all the members of your household} will die [as] men.
Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all of the people, "This day is holy to Yahweh your God. Do not mourn nor weep." For all of the people wept when they heard the words of the law. Then he said to them, "Go, eat festive food and drink sweet drinks, and send a share to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our lord. Do not be grieved because the joy of Yahweh is your refuge." So the Levites silenced all of the people, saying, "Silence, for this day is holy. Do not be grieved."
O Yahweh, God of my salvation, I cry out by day [and] through the night before you. Let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry. For my soul is full with troubles, and my life approaches Sheol.read more.
I am reckoned with [those] descending to [the] pit. I am like a man without strength, set free among the dead, like [the] slain lying in [the] grave, whom you no longer remember, even those cut off from your hand. You have set me in [the] pit below, in dark places, in [the] depths. Your wrath presses upon me, and you afflict [me with] all your waves. Selah You have removed my acquaintances far from me. You have made me detestable to them. [I am] confined and cannot go out. My eye languishes from misery. I call on you, O Yahweh, every day; I spread out my hands to you.
When they become few and they are bent down from [the] oppression of calamity and grief,
The roads of Zion [are] mourning because no one comes to the festival. All her gates [are] desolate, her priests groan; her young women [are] worried, and she herself suffers bitterly. Her foes have become [her] {master}, her enemies are at ease; Yahweh has made her suffer because of the greatness of her transgressions. Her children have gone away, captive before the foe.
And you, son of man, groan {with shaking hips}, and you must groan with bitterness before their eyes. {And then} when they say to you, 'On account of what [are] you groaning?' then you must say, 'On account of [the] report, for it [is] coming, and every heart will be weak and all hands will hang limp and every spirit will be disheartened, and all knees will go [like] water.' Look! It [is] coming, and it will happen!" {declares} the Lord Yahweh.
" 'I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication, and they will look to me whom they pierced, and they shall mourn over him, as one wails over an only child, and they will grieve bitterly over him as [one] grieves bitterly over a firstborn.
Then [when] Judas, the one who had betrayed him, saw that he had been condemned, he regretted [what he had done] [and] returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and elders,
For if I [cause] you sorrow, then who will make me glad except the one who is caused to be sad by me? And I wrote this very [thing] in order that [when I] came, I would not experience sorrow from those who ought to have made me glad, [because I] have confidence about you all, that my joy {belongs to all of you}. For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you through many tears, not so that you may be caused to be sad, but so that you may know the love that I have especially for you.read more.
But if anyone has caused sorrow, he has not caused me sorrow, but {to some degree}--{in order not to say too much}--[to] all [of] you.
For if indeed I grieved you by my letter, I do not regret [it]. Even if I did regret [it] (I see that that letter grieved you, even though for {a short time}), now I rejoice, not that you were grieved, but that you were grieved to repentance. For you were grieved according to [the will of] God, so that you suffered loss in no way through us. For grief according to [the will of] God brings about a repentance [leading] to salvation, not to be regretted, but worldly grief brings about death.read more.
For behold how much diligence this very [thing], being grieved according to [the will of] God, has brought about in you: what defense [of yourselves], what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment! In everything you have demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
For the love of money is a root of all evil, by which some, [because they] desire [it], have gone astray from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.
Then Ahab went to his house, sullen and angry because of the word that Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him [when] he had said, "I will not give to you the inheritance of my ancestors." So he lay on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat [any] food.
To whom [is] woe? To whom [is] sorrow? To whom [are] quarrels? To whom [is] complaint? To whom [are] wounds without cause? To whom [is] redness of [the] eyes? To those who linger over wine, to those who come to try mixed wine.
But [when] the young man heard the statement, he went away sorrowful, because he was one who had many possessions.
But he looked gloomy at the statement [and] went away sorrowful, {because he had} many possessions.
But [when he] heard these [things] he became very sad, because he was extremely wealthy.
Then he said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me."
And he said to them, "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake."
Then Jesus, when he saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled within himself.
"Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, deliver me from this hour'? But for this [reason] I have come to this hour!
[When he] had said these [things], Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified and said, "Truly, truly I say to you that one of you will betray me."
And Yahweh regretted that he had made humankind on the earth, and {he was grieved in his heart}. And Yahweh said, "I will destroy humankind whom I created from upon the face of the earth, from humankind, to animals, to creeping things, and to the birds of heaven, for I regret that I have made them."
and do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
Then Yahweh said, "Because the outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah [is] great and because their sin [is] very {serious},
"I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not kept my word." {Samuel became angry}, and he cried out to Yahweh all night.
When the angel stretched out his hand to destroy Jerusalem, Yahweh regretted about the evil, and he said to the angel who brought destruction among the people, "Enough, now relax your hand." Now the angel of Yahweh [was] at the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.
But they {were the ones who} rebelled, and they grieved {his Holy Spirit}, so he {became an enemy to them}; he himself fought against them.
'If only you will stay in this land, then I will build you and I will not tear [you] down, and I will plant you and I will not pluck [you] up, for I relent of the disaster that I have brought to you.
For even though he causes grief he has compassion according to the greatness of his royal love. He does not {afflict willingly}, or grieve {anyone}.
in which you rejoice greatly, [although] now for a short time, if necessary, you are distressed by various trials,
My eye wastes away because of vexation; it grows old because of all my oppressors. Depart from me, all workers of evil, for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
[But] you have seen; indeed you have noted trouble and grief to take [it] into your hand. The helpless abandons [himself] upon you; you have been [the] helper [for the] orphan.
I love [him], because Yahweh has heard {the voice of my supplications}. Because he has inclined his ear to me, I will call {all my days}. [The] ropes of death encircled me, and the distresses of Sheol found me. I found trouble and grief.read more.
Then I called on the name of Yahweh: "O Yahweh, please save my life!" Gracious [is] Yahweh and righteous, and our God [is] merciful. Yahweh watches over [the] simple. I was brought low, but he gave me victory.
And the ransomed of Yahweh shall return, and they shall come [to] Zion with rejoicing. And everlasting joy [shall be] on their head; joy and gladness shall overtake [them], and sorrow and sighing shall flee.
So the redeemed ones of Yahweh shall return, and they shall come [to] Zion with singing, and everlasting joy [shall be] on their heads. Joy and gladness shall {appear}; sorrow and sighing shall flee away!
Your sun shall no longer go [down], and your moon shall not {wane}, for Yahweh himself will be your everlasting light, and your days of mourning shall come to an end.
[The] Spirit of the Lord Yahweh [is] upon me, because Yahweh has anointed me, he has sent me to bring good news [to the] oppressed, to bind up {the brokenhearted}, to {proclaim} release to [the] captives and liberation to those who are bound, to {proclaim} [the] year of Yahweh's favor, and our God's day of vengeance, to comfort all those in mourning, to {give} for those in mourning in Zion, to give them a head wrap instead of ashes, [the] oil of joy instead of mourning, a garment of praise instead of a faint spirit. And {they will be called} oaks of righteousness, the planting of Yahweh, to show his glory.
And they will come, and they will sing for joy on the height of Zion, and they will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh, over [the] grain, and over [the] wine, and over [the] olive oil, and over [the] young ones of [the] flock, and over [the] cattle. And their life will become like a well-watered garden, and they will never languish again." "Then [the] young woman will rejoice in [the] dancing in a ring, and [the] young men and [the] old men together. And I will turn their mourning to jubilation, and I will comfort them, and I will gladden them from their sorrow.
Truly, truly I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will change to joy. A woman, when she gives birth, experiences pain because her hour has come. But when [her] child is born, she no longer remembers the affliction, on account of the joy that a human being has been born into the world. So you also are experiencing sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy from you.