James 4:9

9 Be ye wretches, and wail ye [and weep ye]; your laughing be [it] turned into weeping, and [your] joy into sorrow of heart.

James 4:9 Meaning and Commentary

James 4:9

Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep
Not in a bare external way; not by afflicting the body with fastings and scourgings, by renting of garments, and clothing with sackcloth, and putting ashes on the head, and other such outward methods of humiliation; but afflicting the soul is meant, an inward mourning and weeping over the plague of the heart, the impurity of nature, and the various sins of life; after a godly sort, and because contrary to a God of infinite love and grace; in an evangelical way, looking to Jesus, and being affected with the pardoning grace and love of God in Christ.

Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness;
meaning their carnal joy, on account of their friendship with the world, and their enjoyment of the things of it, since they consumed them on their lusts, and which betrayed enmity to God.

James 4:9 In-Context

7 Therefore be ye subject to God; but withstand ye the devil, and he shall flee from you.

8 Approach ye to God, and he shall approach to you. Ye sinners, cleanse ye the hands, and ye double in soul, purge ye the hearts. [+Nigh ye to God, and he shall nigh to you. Ye sinners, cleanse the hands, and ye double of will, purge the hearts.]

9 Be ye wretches, and wail ye [and weep ye]; your laughing be [it] turned into weeping, and [your] joy into sorrow of heart.

10 Be ye meeked in the sight of the Lord, and he shall enhance you.

11 My brethren, do not ye backbite each other. He that backbiteth his brother, either that deemeth his brother [or that deemeth his brother], backbiteth the law, and deemeth the law. And if thou deemest the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a doomsman.