'Delight' in the Bible

And the Lord God planted a garden (oasis) in the east, in Eden (delight, land of happiness); and He put the man whom He had formed (created) there.

So Sarah laughed to herself [when she heard the Lord’s words], saying, “After I have become old, shall I have pleasure and delight, my lord (husband) being also old?”

Yet the Lord had a delight in loving your fathers and set His affection on them, and He chose their descendants after them, you above all peoples, as it is this day.

But it shall be that if you have no delight and take no pleasure in her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes. You certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not deal with her as a slave or mistreat her, because you have humbled her [by forced marriage].

Then the Lord your God shall make you abundantly prosperous in everything that you do, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your cattle and in the produce of your land; for the Lord will again delight over you for good, just as He delighted over your fathers,

Samuel said,“Has the Lord as great a delight in burnt offerings and sacrificesAs in obedience to the voice of the Lord?Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,And to heed [is better] than the fat of rams.

But if He should say, ‘I have no delight in you,’ then here I am; let Him do to me what seems good to Him.”

But Joab said to the king, “May the Lord your God add to the people a hundred times as many as there are, and let the eyes of my lord the king see it; but why does my lord the king want to do this thing?”

I know also, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness and integrity. In the uprightness of my heart I have willingly offered all these things. So now with joy I have seen Your people who are present here, make their offerings willingly and freely to You.

Please, O Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to [reverently] fear Your Name [Your essence, Your nature, Your attributes, with awe]; and make Your servant successful this day and grant him compassion in the sight of this man [the king].”For I was cupbearer to the king [of Persia].

So Haman came in and the king said to him, “What is to be done for the man whom the king desires to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Whom would the king desire to honor more than me?”

Then you will have delight in the Almighty,And you will lift up your face to God.

“Will he take delight in the Almighty?Will he call on God at all times?

“For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothingWhen he takes delight and is pleased with God and obeys Him.’

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,And on His law [His precepts and teachings] he [habitually] meditates day and night.

As for the saints (godly people) who are in the land,They are the majestic and the noble and the excellent ones in whom is all my delight.

Delight yourself in the Lord,And He will give you the desires and petitions of your heart.

But the humble will [at last] inherit the landAnd will delight themselves in abundant prosperity and peace.

Sacrifice and meal offering You do not desire, nor do You delight in them;You have opened my ears and given me the capacity to hear [and obey Your word];Burnt offerings and sin offerings You do not require.

“I delight to do Your will, O my God;Your law is within my heart.”

Let those be ashamed and humiliated togetherWho seek my life to destroy it;Let those be turned back [in defeat] and dishonoredWho delight in my hurt.

By this I know that You favor and delight in me,Because my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.

For our fathers did not possess the land [of Canaan] by their own sword,Nor did their own arm save them,But Your right hand and Your arm and the light of Your presence,Because You favored and delighted in them.

For You do not delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it;You are not pleased with burnt offering.

Then will You delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,In burnt offering and whole burnt offering;Then young bulls will be offered on Your altar.

They consult only to throw him down from his high position [to dishonor him];They delight in lies.They bless with [the words of] their mouths,But inwardly they curse. Selah.

Rebuke the beasts [living] among the reeds [in Egypt],The herd of bulls (the leaders) with the calves of the peoples;Trampling underfoot the pieces of silver;He has scattered the peoples who delight in war.

Let those be ashamed and humiliatedWho seek my life;Let them be turned back and humiliatedWho delight in my hurt.

Whom have I in heaven [but You]?And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,Your comforts delight me.

Great are the works of the Lord,Studied by all those who delight in them.

I will delight in Your statutes;I will not forget Your word.

Your testimonies also are my delightAnd my counselors.

Make me walk in the path of Your commandments,For I delight in it.

For I shall delight in Your commandments,Which I love.

Their heart is insensitive like fat [their minds are dull and brutal],But I delight in Your law.

Let Your compassion come to me that I may live,For Your law is my delight.

If Your law had not been my delight,Then I would have perished in my time of trouble.

Trouble and anguish have found me,Yet Your commandments are my delight and my joy.

I long for Your salvation, O Lord,And Your law is my delight.

“How long, O naive ones [you who are easily misled], will you love being simple-minded and undiscerning?How long will scoffers [who ridicule and deride] delight in scoffing,How long will fools [who obstinately mock truth] hate knowledge?

Who find joy in doing evilAnd delight in the perversity of evil,

Let her be as a loving hind and graceful doe,Let her breasts refresh and satisfy you at all times;Always be exhilarated and delight in her love.

“Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;Let us console and delight ourselves with love.

Then I was beside Him, as a master craftsman;And I was daily His delight;Rejoicing before Him always,

A false balance and dishonest business practices are extremely offensive to the Lord,But an accurate scale is His delight.

The perverse in heart are repulsive and shamefully vile to the Lord,But those who are blameless and above reproach in their walk are His delight!

Lying lips are extremely disgusting to the Lord,But those who deal faithfully are His delight.

The sacrifice of the wicked is hateful and exceedingly offensive to the Lord,But the prayer of the upright is His delight!

Righteous lips are the delight of kings,And he who speaks right is loved.

A [closed-minded] fool does not delight in understanding,But only in revealing his personal opinions [unwittingly displaying his self-indulgence and his stupidity].

That which is desirable in a man is his loyalty and unfailing love,But it is better to be a poor man than a [wealthy] liar.

My son, give me your heartAnd let your eyes delight in my ways,

But to those [honorable judges] who rebuke the wicked, it will go well with them and they will find delight,And a good blessing will come upon them.

Correct your son, and he will give you comfort;Yes, he will delight your soul.

“What are your multiplied sacrifices to Me [without your repentance]?”Says the Lord.“I have had enough of [your] burnt offerings of ramsAnd the fat of well-fed cattle [without your obedience];And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls or lambs or goats [offered without repentance].

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house (nation) of IsraelAnd the men of Judah are His delightful planting [which He loves].So He looked for justice, but in fact, [He saw] bloodshed and lawlessness;[He looked] for righteousness, but in fact, [He heard] a cry of distress and oppression.

And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,And He will not judge by what His eyes see,Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;

Listen carefully, I will put the Medes [in motion] against them,Who have no regard for silver and do not delight in gold [and therefore cannot be bribed].

All who make carved idols are nothing. Their precious objects are worthless [to them], and their own witnesses (worshipers) fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.

“Why do you spend money for that which is not bread,And your earnings for what does not satisfy?Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,And let your soul delight in abundance.

“Of whom do you make fun?Against whom do you open wide your mouthAnd stick out your tongue?Are you not children of rebellion (sin),Offspring of deceit,

“Yet they seek Me day by day and delight [superficially] to know My ways,As [if they were in reality] a nation that has done righteousnessAnd has not abandoned (turned away from) the ordinance of their God.They ask of Me righteous judgments,They delight in the nearness of God.

“If you turn back your foot from [unnecessary travel on] the Sabbath,From doing your own pleasure on My holy day,And call the Sabbath a [spiritual] delight, and the holy day of the Lord honorable,And honor it, not going your own wayOr engaging in your own pleasureOr speaking your own [idle] words,

Then you will take pleasure in the Lord,And I will make you ride on the high places of the earth,And I will feed you with the [promised] heritage of Jacob your father;For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

It will no longer be said of you [Judah], “Azubah (Abandoned),”Nor will it any longer be said of your land, “Shemamah (Desolate)”;But you will be called, “Hephzibah (My Delight is in Her),”And your land, “Married”;For the Lord delights in you,And to Him your land will be married [owned and protected by the Lord].

I will destine you for the sword, [says the Lord],And all of you will bow down to the slaughter,Because when I called, you did not answer;When I spoke, you did not listen or obey.But you did [what was] evil in My sightAnd chose that in which I did not delight.”

“He who kills an ox [for pagan sacrifice] is [as guilty] as one who kills a man;He who sacrifices a lamb, as one who breaks a dog’s neck;He who offers a grain offering, as one who offers swine’s blood;He who offers incense, as one who blesses an idol.Such people have chosen their own ways,And their soul delights in their repulsive acts;

So I will choose their punishments,And will bring the things they dread upon themBecause I called, but no one answered;I spoke, but they did not listen or obey.But they did evil in My sightAnd chose that in which I did not delight.”

To whom shall I (Jeremiah) speak and give warningThat they may hear?Behold, their ears are closed [absolutely deaf to God]And they cannot listen.Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reprimand and an object of scorn to them;They have no delight in it.

but let the one who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me [and acknowledges Me and honors Me as God and recognizes without any doubt], that I am the Lord who practices lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these things I delight,” says the Lord.

‘As for you, son of man, on the day when I take their strength and their stronghold from them, their joy and their glory, the desire of their eyes and their heart’s [chief] delight (the temple), and I also take their sons and their daughters,

For I desire and delight in [steadfast] loyalty [faithfulness in the covenant relationship], rather than sacrifice,And in the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.

“I hate, I despise and reject your [sacred] feasts,And I do not take delight in your solemn assemblies.

“Do not enter the gate of My peopleIn the day of their disaster;Yes, you, do not look [with delight] on their miseryIn the day of their ruin,And do not loot treasuresIn the day of their ruin.

Make yourself bald [in mourning]—shave off your hairFor the children of your delight;Remain as bald as the eagle,For your children will be taken from you into exile.

“Then Ephraim will be like a mighty warrior,And their heart will rejoice as if from wine;Yes, their children will see it and rejoice;Their heart will rejoice and shout triumphantly in the Lord.

“All nations shall call you happy and blessed, for you shall be a land of delight,” says the Lord of hosts.