Proverbs 14:13

13 Laughing shall be meddled with sorrow (Laughter shall be mixed, or mingled, with sorrow); and mourning occupieth the last things of joy.

Proverbs 14:13 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 14:13

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful
As Belshazzar's was in the midst of his feast and jollity, when he saw the writing on the wall; so sin may stare a man in the face, and guilt load his conscience and fill him with sorrow, amidst his merriment; a man may put on a merry countenance, and feign a laugh, when his heart is very sorrowful; and oftentimes this sorrow comes by sinful laughter, by mocking at sin and jesting at religion; and the end of that mirth [is] heaviness:
sometimes in this life a sinner mourns at last, and mourns for his wicked mirth, or that he has made himself so merry with religious persons and things, and oftentimes when it is too late; so the end of that mirth the fool in the Gospel promised himself was heaviness, when his soul was required of him; this was the case of the rich man who had his good things here, and his evil things hereafter.

Proverbs 14:13 In-Context

11 The house of wicked men shall be done away; the tabernacles of just men shall burgeon. (The houses of the wicked shall be done away; but the homes of the righteous shall flourish.)

12 Soothly a way is, that seemeth just to a man (Truly there is a way, that seemeth right to a person); but the last things thereof lead forth to death.

13 Laughing shall be meddled with sorrow (Laughter shall be mixed, or mingled, with sorrow); and mourning occupieth the last things of joy.

14 A fool shall be filled with his ways; and a good man shall be above him. (A fool shall reap the fruit of his foolish ways; and a good person that of his deeds, or of his labour.)

15 An innocent man believeth to each word; a fell man beholdeth his goings. (An innocent person believeth each and every word; a clever person regardeth, or watcheth, his own steps.)