Bible Verses About Joy

Joy in scripture is rarely tied to circumstances, which is what separates it from happiness. Nehemiah calls it a source of strength rather than a result of comfort — the joy of the LORD is your strength, said to people who had just wept over how far they had fallen short.

Psalm 30 gives the pattern most people recognise: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Note that it does not deny the night. The night is granted, and given its own duration.

Habakkuk is the hardest case. He lists everything failing — no fruit, no herd, no harvest — and then says yet I will rejoice. It is joy asserted against the evidence, which is a different thing from optimism.

The verses

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Nehemiah 8:10

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Open → Psalms 30:5

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

Open → Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Open → 1 Thessalonians 5:16

Rejoice evermore.

Open → Psalms 118:24

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Open → John 15:11

These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Open → Romans 15:13

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

Open → Psalms 16:11

Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Open → Habakkuk 3:18

Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

Open → Psalms 126:5

They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.

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Open Psalm 30:5 on FirstVerse and read the verses around it. The night in that sentence is longer than the line suggests.

Related subjects

Gratitude and Thankfulness Hope Peace Grief and Loss

Scripture: King James Version, public domain. Last updated August 15, 2026.