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Read the Bible

THE MESSAGE

Proverbs 15:15

A miserable heart means a miserable life; a cheerful heart fills the day with song.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Afflictions and Adversities;   Contentment;   Heart;   The Topic Concordance - Affliction;   Happiness/joy;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Heart;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Forbearance;   Proverbs, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Cheer;   Good;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Anger;   Baba Batra;  

Devotionals:

- Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for July 20;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
All the days of the oppressed are miserable,but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
Hebrew Names Version
All the days of the afflicted are wretched, But one who has a cheerful heart enjoys a continual feast.
King James Version
All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
English Standard Version
All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.
New American Standard Bible
All the days of the needy are bad, But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
New Century Version
Every day is hard for those who suffer, but a happy heart is like a continual feast.
Amplified Bible
All the days of the afflicted are bad, But a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of the circumstances].
World English Bible
All the days of the afflicted are wretched, But one who has a cheerful heart enjoys a continual feast.
Geneva Bible (1587)
All the dayes of the afflicted are euill: but a good conscience is a continuall feast.
Legacy Standard Bible
All the days of the afflicted are evil,But a good heart has a continual feast.
Berean Standard Bible
All the days of the oppressed are bad, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
Contemporary English Version
The poor have a hard life, but being content is as good as an endless feast.
Complete Jewish Bible
For the poor, every day is hard; but the good-hearted have a perpetual feast.
Darby Translation
All the days of the afflicted are evil; but a cheerful heart is a continual feast.
Easy-to-Read Version
Life is always hard for the poor, but the right attitude can turn it into a party.
George Lamsa Translation
All the days of the poor are filled with hardships; but those who are of merry heart have a continual tranquillity.
Good News Translation
The life of the poor is a constant struggle, but happy people always enjoy life.
Lexham English Bible
All the days of the poor are hard, but goodness of heart is a continuous feast.
Literal Translation
All the days of the afflicted are evil, but gladness of heart is a continual feast.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
All the dayes of the poore are miserable, but a quyete herte is as a cotynuall feast.
American Standard Version
All the days of the afflicted are evil; But he that is of a cheerful heart hath a continual feast.
Bible in Basic English
All the days of the troubled are evil; but he whose heart is glad has an unending feast.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
All the days of the poor are evil; but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
King James Version (1611)
All the dayes of the afflicted are euill: but he that is of a merry heart, hath a continuall feast.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
All the dayes of the poore are miserable: but a quiet heart is a continuall feast.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The eyes of the wicked are always looking for evil things; but the good are always quiet.
English Revised Version
All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a cheerful heart hath a continual feast.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Alle the daies of a pore man ben yuele; a sikir soule is a contynuel feeste.
Update Bible Version
All the days of the afflicted are evil; But he that is of a cheerful heart [has] a continual feast.
Webster's Bible Translation
All the days of the afflicted [are] evil: but he that is of a merry heart [hath] a continual feast.
New English Translation
All the days of the afflicted are bad, but one with a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
New King James Version
All the days of the afflicted are evil, But he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast.
New Living Translation
For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.
New Life Bible
All the days of the suffering are hard, but a glad heart has a special supper all the time.
New Revised Standard
All the days of the poor are hard, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
All the days of the afflicted, are sorrowful, but, a cheerful heart, is a continual banquet.
Douay-Rheims Bible
All the days of the poor are evil: a secure mind is like a continual feast.
Revised Standard Version
All the days of the afflicted are evil, but a cheerful heart has a continual feast.
Young's Literal Translation
All the days of the afflicted [are] evil, And gladness of heart [is] a perpetual banquet.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
All the days of the afflicted are bad, But a cheerful heart has a continual feast.

Contextual Overview

15 A miserable heart means a miserable life; a cheerful heart fills the day with song.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

All: Genesis 37:35, Genesis 47:9, Psalms 90:7-9

but: Proverbs 16:22, Proverbs 17:22, Acts 16:25, Romans 5:2, Romans 5:3, Romans 5:11, Romans 12:12, 2 Corinthians 1:5, 2 Corinthians 1:12, 2 Corinthians 6:10, 1 Peter 1:6-8, 1 Peter 4:13

Reciprocal: Proverbs 12:25 - Heaviness Proverbs 15:13 - merry 2 Corinthians 7:10 - the sorrow

Cross-References

Genesis 15:1
After all these things, this word of God came to Abram in a vision: "Don't be afraid, Abram. I'm your shield. Your reward will be grand!"
Genesis 15:2
Abram said, " God , Master, what use are your gifts as long as I'm childless and Eliezer of Damascus is going to inherit everything?" Abram continued, "See, you've given me no children, and now a mere house servant is going to get it all."
Genesis 15:7
God continued, "I'm the same God who brought you from Ur of the Chaldees and gave you this land to own."
Genesis 15:9
God said, "Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, and a dove and a young pigeon."
Genesis 15:13
God said to Abram, "Know this: your descendants will live as outsiders in a land not theirs; they'll be enslaved and beaten down for 400 years. Then I'll punish their slave masters; your offspring will march out of there loaded with plunder. But not you; you'll have a long and full life and die a good and peaceful death. Not until the fourth generation will your descendants return here; sin is still a thriving business among the Amorites."
Genesis 49:29
Then he instructed them: "I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my fathers in the cave which is in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah facing Mamre in the land of Canaan, the field Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial plot. Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried there; Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried there; I also buried Leah there. The field and the cave were bought from the Hittites."
Judges 2:10
Eventually that entire generation died and was buried. Then another generation grew up that didn't know anything of God or the work he had done for Israel.
1 Chronicles 23:1
When David got to be an old man, he made his son Solomon king over Israel.
Psalms 37:37
Keep your eye on the healthy soul, scrutinize the straight life; There's a future in strenuous wholeness. But the willful will soon be discarded; insolent souls are on a dead-end street.
Ecclesiastes 6:3
Say a couple have scores of children and live a long, long life but never enjoy themselves—even though they end up with a big funeral! I'd say that a stillborn baby gets the better deal. It gets its start in a mist and ends up in the dark—unnamed. It sees nothing and knows nothing, but is better off by far than anyone living.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

All the days of the afflicted [are] evil,.... And some are afflicted all their days, from their youth up; so that not only the days of old age are evil days, in which they have no pleasure, but even the days of their youth; all their days, as Jacob says, "few and evil have the days of the years of my life been", Genesis 47:9; because they had been filled up with affliction and trouble of one sort or another. Or, "all the days of the poor" f; either in purse, who want many of the good things of life; or in knowledge, as Gersom and Aben Ezra observe;

but he that is of a merry heart [hath] a continual feast; a heart that has "the kingdom of God" in it, which lies "not [in] meat and drink, but [in] righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost", Romans 14:17: which has the love of God shed abroad in it by the Spirit, where Christ dwells by faith; and that lives by faith on him, and on the provisions of his grace; all this is a constant continual feast to a gracious soul, made joyful hereby.

f עני "pauperis", V. L. Pagninus, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Mercerus, Michaelis.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Afflicted - The affliction meant here is less that of outward circumstances than of a troubled and downcast spirit. Life to the cheerful is as one perpetual banquet, whether he be poor or rich. That which disturbs the feast is anxiety, the taking (anxious) thought” of Matthew 6:34.


 
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