'Mourning' in the Bible

So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him; and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are very near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.”

Then all his sons and daughters attempted to console him, but he refused to be comforted and said, “I will go down to Sheol (the place of the dead) in mourning for my son.” And his father wept for him.

When the days of weeping and public mourning for him were past, Joseph spoke to [the nobles of] the house of Pharaoh, saying, “If now I have found favor in your sight, please speak to Pharaoh, saying,

When they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is beyond the Jordan, they mourned there with a great lamentation (expressions of mourning for the deceased) and [extreme demonstrations of] sorrow [according to Egyptian custom]; and Joseph observed a seven-day mourning for his father.

When the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, “This is a grievous mourning for the Egyptians.” Therefore the place was named Abel-mizraim (mourning of Egypt); it is west of the Jordan.

‘But he who is the high priest among his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil has been poured and who has been consecrated to wear the [sacred] garments, shall not uncover his head nor tear his clothes [in mourning],

I have not eaten from the tithe while mourning, nor have I removed any of it when I was [ceremonially] unclean [making the tithe ceremonially unclean], nor offered any of it to the dead. I have listened to the voice of the Lord my God; I have done everything in accordance with all that You have commanded me.

So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab for thirty days; then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses were ended.

And when the time of mourning was past, David sent word and had her brought to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done [with Bathsheba] was evil in the sight of the Lord.

So Joab sent word to Tekoa and had a wise woman brought from there and told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner, and put on mourning clothes, and do not anoint yourself with oil, but act like a woman who has for many days been in mourning for the dead.

It was told to Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.”

So the victory on that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard it said on that day, “The king grieves for his son.”

In each and every province that the decree and law of the king reached, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, weeping and wailing; and many lay on sackcloth and ashes.

Then Mordecai returned to the king’s gate. But Haman hurried to his [own] house, mourning and with his head covered [in sorrow].

because on those days the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and as the month which was turned for them from grief to joy and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending choice portions of food to one another and gifts to the poor.

“I have sewed sackcloth over my skin [as a sign of mourning]And have defiled my horn (symbol of strength) in the dust.

“Therefore my lyre (harp) is used for [the sound of] mourning,And my flute for the [sound of the] voices of those who weep.

You have turned my mourning into dancing for me;You have taken off my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,

I am bent over and greatly bowed down;I go about mourning all day long.

I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”

For You are the God of my strength [my stronghold—in whom I take refuge]; why have You rejected me?Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

I am sleepless and lie awake [mourning],I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.

It is better to go to the house of mourningThan to go to the house of feasting,For that [day of death] is the end of every man,And the living will take it to heart and solemnly ponder its meaning.

The heart of the wise [learns when it] is in the house of mourning,But the heart of fools is [senseless] in the house of pleasure.

Therefore in that day the Lord God of hosts called you to weeping, to mourning,To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth [in humiliation].

And on this mountain He will destroy the covering that is [cast] over all peoples,And the veil [of death] that is woven and spread over all the nations.

Then I will harass Ariel,And she will be a city of mourning and lamenting (crying out in grief)Yet she will be like an Ariel [an altar hearth] to Me.

“I clothe the heavens with the blackness [of storm clouds]And make sackcloth [of mourning] their clothing.”

“Your sun will no longer set,Nor will your moon wane;For the Lord will be your everlasting light,And the days of your mourning will be over.

To grant to those who mourn in Zion the following:To give them a turban instead of dust [on their heads, a sign of mourning],The oil of joy instead of mourning,The garment [expressive] of praise instead of a disheartened spirit.So they will be called the trees of righteousness [strong and magnificent, distinguished for integrity, justice, and right standing with God],The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

O daughter of my people [says Jeremiah],Clothe yourself in sackcloth and wallow in ashes;Mourn [aloud] as for an only son,A most bitter cry [of sorrow and regret],For suddenly the destroyer will come upon us [on both prophet and people].

For the brokenness of the daughter of my people I (Jeremiah) am broken;I mourn, anxiety has gripped me.

Thus says the Lord of hosts,“Consider and call for the mourning women to come;Send for the wailing women to come.

“Judah mournsAnd her gates languish;Her people sit on the ground in mourning clothesAnd the cry of Jerusalem has gone up.

For thus says the Lord, “Do not enter a house of mourning, nor go to lament (express grief) or bemoan [the dead], for I have taken My peace away from this people,” says the Lord, “even My lovingkindness and compassion.

“Then the virgin will rejoice in the dance,And the young men and old, together,For I will turn their mourning into joyAnd will comfort them and make them rejoice after their sorrow.

“Baldness [as a sign of mourning] will come on Gaza;Ashkelon will be cut off and ruined.O remnant of their valley,How long will you gash yourselves [as a sign of mourning]?

“Therefore I will wail over Moab,And I will cry out for all Moab.I will sigh and mourn over the men of Kir-heres (Kir-hareseth).

For every head is [shaven] bald and every beard cut off; there are cuts (slashes) on all the hands and sackcloth on the loins [all expressions of mourning].

The joy of our hearts has ended;Our dancing has been turned into mourning.

And He spread it before me, and it was written on the front and on the back, and written on it were [words of] lamentation (funeral songs) and mourning and woe.

The king [of Judah] will mourn and the prince (Zedekiah) will be clothed with [garments of] despair and anguish, and the hands of the people of the land shall tremble [in terror]. I will deal with them in accordance with their conduct, and by their judgments I will judge them. And they will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.’”

Sigh and groan in silence; do not mourn for the dead. Bind on your turban and put your sandals on your feet, and do not cover your mustache or eat the bread of [mourners furnished by other] men.”

You will do as I [Ezekiel] have done; you shall not cover your mustache nor eat the bread of [mourning brought to you by other] men.

“And they will make themselves [completely] bald for youAnd wrap themselves in sackcloth;And in bitterness of soul they will weep for youWith bitter mourning and wailing.

‘Thus says the Lord God, “On the day when Assyria went down to Sheol (the place of the dead) I caused mourning; I closed the deep [subterranean waters] over it and restrained its rivers. And the many waters [that contributed to its prosperity] were held back; and I made [the heart of] Lebanon mourn for it, and all the trees of the field wilted away because of it.

In those days I, Daniel, had been mourning for three entire weeks.

They do not cry out to Me from their heartWhen they wail on their beds [in unbelieving despair];For the sake of grain and new wine they assemble themselves [as if worshiping Baal];They rebel against Me.

“Even now,” says the Lord,“Turn and come to Me with all your heart [in genuine repentance],With fasting and weeping and mourning [until every barrier is removed and the broken fellowship is restored];

Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the Lord,“There is wailing in all the public plazas,And in all the streets they say, ‘Alas! Alas!’And they call the farmers to mourning [for those who have died]And professional mourners to wailing.

“And I shall turn your festivals and feasts into mourningAnd all your songs into dirges (funeral poems to be sung);And I shall cause sackcloth to be put on everyone’s loinsAnd baldness on every head [shaved for mourning].And I shall make that time like a time of mourning for an only son [who has died],And the end of it shall be like a bitter day.

The people of Nineveh believed and trusted in God; and they proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth [in penitent mourning], from the greatest even to the least of them.

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.

In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of [the city of] Hadadrimmon in the Valley of Megiddo [over beloved King Josiah].

You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God. What profit is it if we keep His ordinances, and walk around like mourners before the Lord of hosts?

and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess [anything];

as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet bestowing riches on many; as having nothing, yet possessing all things.

To the degree that she glorified herself and reveled and gloated in her sensuality [living deliciously and luxuriously], to that same degree impose on her torment and anguish, and mourning and grief; for in her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as a queen [on a throne] and I am not a widow, and will never, ever see mourning or experience grief.’

and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be death; there will no longer be sorrow and anguish, or crying, or pain; for the former order of things has passed away.”