108 Bible Verses about Joy

In the Old Testament, they celebrated joy with feasts and festivals. My joy comes from discovering God's will for my life, which the Bible reveals is good, pleasing, and perfect. It's not about what's happening around me or how I'm feeling at the moment, but about finding true joy in the salvation I have in Jesus.

I want to encourage you today to let go of any sadness you're holding onto. Cast out bitterness and resentment from your heart, and let the everlasting joy of Jesus flood your soul. You'll find you have so much to smile about, and so much less to feel down about.

Think about it: everything around you was created by God for your enjoyment. So smile for Him, and let your heart overflow with love in His presence. That gray sky will soon disappear, and He’ll paint a rainbow just for you.

He’s turned my mourning into dancing; He’s filled me with joy. Sure, life isn’t always happy-go-lucky, but in God, I find peace because I trust that He’s working everything out for my good (Romans 8:28).

Rejoice in union with the Lord always! I will say it again: rejoice!

Each should give according to what he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

People take pleasure in anything they say; but a word at the right time, how good it is!

You make me know the path of life; in your presence is unbounded joy, in your right hand eternal delight.

This is the day Adonai has made, a day for us to rejoice and be glad.

When my cares within me are many, your comforts cheer me up.

Rejoice in your hope, be patient in your troubles, and continue steadfastly in prayer.

Always be joyful.Pray regularly.In everything give thanks, for this is what God wants from you who are united with the Messiah Yeshua.

So you do indeed feel grief now, but I am going to see you again. Then your hearts will be full of joy, and no one will take your joy away from you.

A psalm of thanksgiving: Shout for joy to Adonai, all the earth!Serve Adonai with gladness. Enter his presence with joyful songs.

A happy heart is good medicine, but low spirits sap one’s strength.

My son, if your heart is wise, then my own heart too is glad;

I give thanks to Adonai with all my heart. I will tell about all your wonderful deeds.

What the righteous hope for will end in joy; what the wicked expect will come to nothing.

The Torah of Adonai is perfect, restoring the inner person. The instruction of Adonai is sure, making wise the thoughtless.

Adonai your God is right there with you, as a mighty savior. He will rejoice over you and be glad, he will be silent in his love, he will shout over you with joy.”

My tears are my food, day and night, while all day people ask me, “Where is your God?”

So go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a happy heart, for God has already accepted your deeds.

Adonai is my strength and shield; in him my heart trusted, and I have been helped. Therefore my heart is filled with joy, and I will sing praises to him.

I know that there is nothing better for them to do than to be happy and enjoy themselves as long as they live.Still, the fact that everyone can eat and drink and enjoy the good that results from all his work, is a gift of God.

for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness, shalom and joy in the Ruach HaKodesh.

For even if the fig tree doesn’t blossom, and no fruit is on the vines, even if the olive tree fails to produce, and the fields yield no food at all, even if the sheep vanish from the sheep pen, and there are no cows in the stalls;still, I will rejoice in Adonai, I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

Without having seen him, you love him. Without seeing him now, but trusting in him, you continue to be full of joy that is glorious beyond words.

Sing praise to Adonai, you faithful of his; and give thanks on recalling his holiness.

Hear me, Adonai, and show me your favor! Adonai, be my helper!”

Rejoice in Adonai, you righteous! Praise is well-suited to the upright.

I sought Adonai, and he answered me; he rescued me from everything I feared.

Create in me a clean heart, God; renew in me a resolute spirit.

Drive them away as smoke is driven away; like wax melting in the presence of a fire, let the wicked perish in the presence of God.

to the music of a ten-stringed [harp] and a lute, with the melody sounding on a lyre.

Light is sown for the righteous and joy for the upright in heart.Rejoice in Adonai, you righteous; and give thanks on recalling his holiness.

Our mouths were full of laughter, and our tongues shouted for joy. Among the nations it was said, “Adonai has done great things for them!”Adonai did do great things with us; and we are overjoyed.

How happy the people who live in such conditions! How happy the people whose God is Adonai!

Let Isra’el rejoice in their maker, let Tziyon’s children take joy in their king.

Deceit is in the hearts of those who plot evil, but for those advising peace there is joy.

A glad heart makes a face happy, but heartache breaks the spirit.

For the poor, every day is hard; but the good-hearted have a perpetual feast.

A cheerful glance brings joy to the heart, and good news invigorates the bones.

Acting justly is a joy for the righteous but it terrifies evildoers.

For to the man who is good from [God’s] viewpoint he gives wisdom, knowledge and joy; but to the sinner he gives the task of collecting and accumulating things to leave to him who is good from God’s viewpoint. This too is pointless and feeding on wind.

for he will not brood over the fact that his life is short, since God keeps him occupied with what will bring him joy.

“See! God is my salvation. I am confident and unafraid; for Yah Adonai is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation!”Then you will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation.

Those ransomed by Adonai will return and come with singing to Tziyon, on their heads will be everlasting joy. They will acquire gladness and joy, while sorrow and sighing will flee.

Those ransomed by Adonai will return and come with singing to Tziyon; on their heads will be everlasting joy. They will acquire gladness and joy, while sorrow and sighing will flee.

Yes, you will go out with joy, you will be led forth in peace. As you come, the mountains and hills will burst out into song, and all the trees in the countryside will clap their hands.

yes, provide for those in Tziyon who mourn, giving them garlands instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, a cloak of praise instead of a heavy spirit, so that they will be called oaks of righteousness planted by Adonai, in which he takes pride.

When I found your words, I devoured them; your words made me glad, they gave me joy; because, Adonai-Tzva’ot, you had me bear your name.

I will give the cohanim their fill of rich food, and my people will be satisfied with my bounty,” says Adonai.

Rejoice, be glad, because your reward in heaven is great — they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.

His master said to him, ‘Excellent! You are a good and trustworthy servant. You have been faithful with a small amount, so I will put you in charge of a large amount. Come and join in your master’s happiness!’

So they left the tomb quickly, frightened yet filled with joy; and they ran to give the news to his talmidim.

and my spirit rejoices in God, my Savior,

“How blessed are you who are hungry! for you will be filled. “How blessed are you who are crying now! for you will laugh.

Nevertheless, don’t be glad that the spirits submit to you; be glad that your names have been recorded in heaven.”

I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who turns to God from his sins than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need to repent.

In the same way, I tell you, there is joy among God’s angels when one sinner repents.”

I have said this to you so that my joy may be in you, and your joy be complete.

Yes, it’s true. I tell you that you will sob and mourn, and the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

But now, I am coming to you; and I say these things while I am still in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.

You have made known to me the ways of life; you will fill me with joy by your presence.’

and the talmidim were filled with joy and with the Ruach HaKodesh.

Also through him and on the ground of our trust, we have gained access to this grace in which we stand; so let us boast about the hope of experiencing God’s glory.And the Torah came into the picture so that the offence would proliferate; but where sin proliferated, grace proliferated even more.All this happened so that just as sin ruled by means of death, so also grace might rule through causing people to be considered righteous, so that they might have eternal life, through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord.But not only that, let us also boast in our troubles; because we know that trouble produces endurance,

May God, the source of hope, fill you completely with joy and shalom as you continue trusting, so that by the power of the Ruach HaKodesh you may overflow with hope.

that I am very confident in you; that I am very proud of you; that you have filled me with encouragement; and that in spite of all our troubles, I am overflowing with joy.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

Whenever I pray for all of you I always pray with joy,

Likewise, you too should be glad and rejoice with me.

In conclusion, my brothers: rejoice in union with the Lord. It is no trouble for me to repeat what I have written you before, and for you it will be a safeguard:

Then God’s shalom, passing all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with the Messiah Yeshua.

We pray that you will be continually strengthened with all the power that comes from his glorious might; so that you will be able to persevere and be patient in any situation, joyfully

let the Word of the Messiah, in all its richness, live in you, as you teach and counsel each other in all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude to God in your hearts.

You, indeed, became imitators of us and of the Lord; so that even though you were going through severe troubles, you received the Word with joy from the Ruach HaKodesh.

Always be joyful.

I am reminded of your tears, and I long to see you, so that I might be filled with joy.

looking away to the Initiator and Completer of that trusting, Yeshua — who, in exchange for obtaining the joy set before him, endured execution on a stake as a criminal, scorning the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Regard it all as joy, my brothers, when you face various kinds of temptations;for a person’s anger does not accomplish God’s righteousness!So rid yourselves of all vulgarity and obvious evil, and receive meekly the Word implanted in you that can save your lives.Don’t deceive yourselves by only hearing what the Word says, but do it!For whoever hears the Word but doesn’t do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror,who looks at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.But if a person looks closely into the perfect Torah, which gives freedom, and continues, becoming not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work it requires, then he will be blessed in what he does.Anyone who thinks he is religiously observant but does not control his tongue is deceiving himself, and his observance counts for nothing.The religious observance that God the Father considers pure and faultless is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being contaminated by the world.for you know that the testing of your trust produces perseverance.

Rather, to the extent that you share the fellowship of the Messiah’s sufferings, rejoice; so that you will rejoice even more when his Sh’khinah is revealed.

We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

God, declare them guilty! Let them fall through their own intrigues, For their many crimes, throw them down; since they have rebelled against you.

Be glad in Adonai; rejoice, you righteous! Shout for joy, all you upright in heart!

Then I will be joyful in Adonai, I will rejoice in his salvation.

For the leader. A psalm of the descendants of Korach:

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; grace and truth attend you.How happy are the people who know the joyful shout! They walk in the light of your presence, Adonai.

Come, let’s sing to Adonai! Let’s shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation!For forty years I loathed that generation; I said, ‘This is a people whose hearts go astray, they don’t understand how I do things.’Therefore I swore in my anger that they would not enter my rest.”Let’s come into his presence with thanksgiving; let’s shout for joy to him with songs of praise.

Those who sow in tears will reap with cries of joy.He who goes out weeping as he carries his sack of seed will come home with cries of joy as he carries his sheaves of grain.

For the yoke that weighed them down, the bar across their shoulders, and their driver’s goad you have broken as on the day of Midyan[’s defeat].

The humble will again rejoice in Adonai and the poor exult in the Holy One of Isra’el,

Sing, heaven! Rejoice, earth! Break out in song, you mountains! For Adonai is comforting his people, having mercy on his own who have suffered.

I am so joyful in Adonai! My soul rejoices in my God, for he has clothed me in salvation, dressed me with a robe of triumph, like a bridegroom wearing a festive turban, like a bride adorned with her jewels.

Your heart will rejoice at the sight, your bodies will flourish like newly sprouted grass. It will be known that the hand of Adonai is with his servants; but with his enemies, his fury.

Once again, you will plant vineyards on the hills of Shomron, and those doing the planting will have the use of its fruit.

the sounds of joy and gladness and the voices of bridegroom and bride, the voices of those who sing, ‘Give thanks to Adonai-Tzva’ot, for Adonai is good, for his grace continues forever,’ as they bring offerings of thanksgiving into the house of Adonai. For I will cause those captured from the land to return, as before,” says Adonai.

still, I will rejoice in Adonai, I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.

but the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, because I am here announcing to you Good News that will bring great joy to all the people.

He climbed down as fast as he could and welcomed Yeshua joyfully.

The bridegroom is the one who has the bride; but the bridegroom’s friend, who stands and listens to him, is overjoyed at the sound of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine is now complete.

so that there was great joy in that city.

After being sent off by the congregation, they made their way through Phoenicia and Shomron, recounting in detail how the Gentiles had turned to God; and this news brought great joy to all the brothers.

Then, if it is God’s will, I will come to you with joy and have a time of rest among you.

And now, brothers, shalom! Put yourselves in order, pay attention to my advice, be of one mind, live in shalom — and the God of love and shalom will be with you.

So, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, my dear friends, keep standing firm in union with the Lord.

I rejoice in my present sufferings on your behalf! Yes, I am completing in my own flesh what has been lacking of the Messiah’s afflictions, on behalf of his Body, the Messianic Community.

For when our Lord Yeshua returns, what will be our hope, our joy, our crown to boast about? Won’t it be you?On the contrary, although we had already suffered and been outraged in Philippi, as you know, we had the courage, united with our God, to tell you the Good News even under great pressure.Yes, you are our glory and our joy!

Indeed, how can we thank God enough for you or express to our God all the joy we feel because of you?

I was very happy when I found some of your children living in truth, just as the Father commanded us.

For I was so happy when some brothers came and testified how faithful you are to the truth, as you continue living in the truth.Nothing gives me greater joy than hearing that my children are living in the truth.

Now, to the one who can keep you from falling and set you without defect and full of joy in the presence of his Sh’khinah —

Prayer