'Mourning' in the Bible

Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. And Esau determined in his heart: “The days of mourning for my father are approaching; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

All his sons and daughters tried to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said. “I will go down to Sheol to my son, mourning.” And his father wept for him.

After a long time Judah’s wife, the daughter of Shua, died. When Judah had finished mourning, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite went up to Timnah to the sheepshearers.

When the days of mourning were over, Joseph said to Pharaoh’s household, “If I have found favor with you, please tell Pharaoh that

When the Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a solemn mourning on the part of the Egyptians.” Therefore the place is named Abel-mizraim. It is across the Jordan.

I have not eaten any of it while in mourning, or removed any of it while unclean, or offered any of it for the dead. I have obeyed the Lord my God; I have done all You commanded me.

The Israelites wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end.

When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.

So Joab sent someone to Tekoa to bring a clever woman from there. He told her, “Pretend to be in mourning: dress in mourning clothes and don’t put on any oil. Act like a woman who has been mourning for the dead for a long time.

It was reported to Joab, “The king is weeping. He’s mourning over Absalom.”

That day’s victory was turned into mourning for all the troops because on that day the troops heard, “The king is grieving over his son.”

Ezra then went from the house of God and walked to the chamber of Jehohanan son of Eliashib, where he spent the night. He did not eat food or drink water, because he was mourning over the unfaithfulness of the exiles.

There was great mourning among the Jewish people in every province where the king’s command and edict came. They fasted, wept, and lamented, and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

because during those days the Jews got rid of their enemies. That was the month when their sorrow was turned into rejoicing and their mourning into a holiday. They were to be days of feasting, rejoicing, and of sending gifts to one another and the poor.

My lyre is used for mourningand my flute for the sound of weeping. >

I went about grieving as if for my friend or brother;I was bowed down with grief,like one mourning a mother.

I am bent over and brought low;all day long I go around in mourning.

It is better to go to a house of mourningthan to go to a house of feasting,since that is the end of all mankind,and the living should take it to heart.

The heart of the wise is in a house of mourning,but the heart of fools is in a house of pleasure.

I will oppress Ariel,and there will be mourning and crying,and she will be to Me like an Ariel.

Beat your breasts in mourningfor the delightful fields and the fruitful vines,

to provide for those who mourn in Zion;to give them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,festive oil instead of mourning,and splendid clothes instead of despair.And they will be called righteous trees,planted by the Lordto glorify Him.

Judah mourns;her gates languish.Her people are on the ground in mourning;Jerusalem’s cry rises up.

“For this is what the Lord says: Don’t enter a house where a mourning feast is taking place. Don’t go to lament or sympathize with them, for I have removed My peace from these people”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“as well as My faithful love and compassion.

Then the young woman will rejoice with dancing,while young and old men rejoice together.I will turn their mourning into joy,give them consolation,and bring happiness out of grief.

On all the rooftops of Moab and in her public squares, everyone is mourning because I have shattered Moab like a jar no one wants.” This is the Lord’s declaration.

ה HeThe Lord is like an enemy;He has swallowed up Israel.He swallowed up all its palacesand destroyed its fortified cities.He has multiplied mourning and lamentationwithin Daughter Judah.

Joy has left our hearts;our dancing has turned to mourning.

When He unrolled it before me, it was written on the front and back; words of lamentation, mourning, and woe were written on it.

Groan quietly; do not observe mourning rites for the dead. Put on your turban and strap your sandals on your feet; do not cover your mustache or eat the bread of mourners.”

They shave their heads because of youand wrap themselves in sackcloth.They weep over youwith deep anguish and bitter mourning.

In their wailing they lament for you,mourning over you:Who was like Tyre,silenced in the middle of the sea?

In those days I, Daniel, was mourning for three full weeks.

Grieve like a young woman dressed in sackcloth,mourning for the husband of her youth.

Even now—this is the Lord’s declaration—turn to Me with all your heart,with fasting, weeping, and mourning.

I will turn your feasts into mourningand all your songs into lamentation;I will cause everyone to wear sackclothand every head to be shaved.I will make that grieflike mourning for an only sonand its outcome like a bitter day.

On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.