John 16:20
New International Version
Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

New Living Translation
I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn over what is going to happen to me, but the world will rejoice. You will grieve, but your grief will suddenly turn to wonderful joy.

English Standard Version
Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.

Berean Standard Bible
Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

Berean Literal Bible
Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and will lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be grieved, but your grief will turn to joy.

King James Bible
Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

New King James Version
Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

New American Standard Bible
Truly, truly I say to you that you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy!

NASB 1995
“Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will grieve, but your grief will be turned into joy.

NASB 1977
“Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned to joy.

Legacy Standard Bible
Truly, truly, I say to you, that you will cry and lament, but the world will rejoice; you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

Amplified Bible
I assure you and most solemnly say to you, that you will weep and grieve [in great mourning], but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

Christian Standard Bible
Truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
“I assure you: You will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice. You will become sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.

American Standard Version
Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“Timeless truth, I speak to you: you shall weep and mourn and the world will rejoice, and you will have sorrow, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.”

Contemporary English Version
I tell you for certain that you will cry and be sad, but the world will be happy. You will be sad, but later you will be happy.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Amen, amen I say to you, that you shall lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

English Revised Version
Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
I can guarantee this truth: You will cry because you are sad, but the world will be happy. You will feel pain, but your pain will turn to happiness.

Good News Translation
I am telling you the truth: you will cry and weep, but the world will be glad; you will be sad, but your sadness will turn into gladness.

International Standard Version
Truly, I tell all of you emphatically, you'll cry and mourn, but the world will rejoice. You'll be deeply distressed, but your pain will turn into joy.

Literal Standard Version
Truly, truly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, and the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will become joy.

Majority Standard Bible
Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.

New American Bible
Amen, amen, I say to you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.

NET Bible
I tell you the solemn truth, you will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice; you will be sad, but your sadness will turn into joy.

New Revised Standard Version
Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy.

New Heart English Bible
Truly, truly, I tell you, that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

Webster's Bible Translation
Verily, verily, I say to you, that ye will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice: and ye will be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

Weymouth New Testament
In most solemn truth I tell you that you will weep aloud and lament, but the world will be glad. You will mourn, but your grief will be turned into gladness.

World English Bible
Most certainly I tell you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

Young's Literal Translation
verily, verily, I say to you, that ye shall weep and lament, and the world will rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow joy will become.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Grief to Joy
19Aware that they wanted to question Him, Jesus said to them, “Are you asking one another why I said, ‘In a little while you will not see Me, and then after a little while you will see Me’? 20Truly, truly, I tell you, you will weep and wail while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. 21A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.…

Cross References
Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Mark 16:10
She went and told those who had been with Him, who were mourning and weeping.

Luke 23:27
A great number of people followed Him, including women who kept mourning and wailing for Him.

John 20:20
After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.


Treasury of Scripture

Truly, truly, I say to you, That you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.

That.

John 16:6,33
But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart…

John 19:25-27
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene…

Mark 14:72
And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.

but the.

Job 20:5
That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment?

Matthew 21:38
But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.

Matthew 27:39-44,62-66
And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, …

your.

Psalm 30:5,11
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning…

Psalm 40:1-3
To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry…

Psalm 97:11
Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

Jump to Previous
Aloud Glad Gladness Grief Grieve Grieved Joy Lament Mourn Rejoice Rejoices Solemn Sorrow Sorrowful Truth Turned Verily Weep Weeping World
Jump to Next
Aloud Glad Gladness Grief Grieve Grieved Joy Lament Mourn Rejoice Rejoices Solemn Sorrow Sorrowful Truth Turned Verily Weep Weeping World
John 16
1. Jesus comforts his disciples by the promise of the Holy Spirit, and his ascension;
23. assures their prayers made in his name to be acceptable.
33. Peace in Jesus, and in the world affliction.














(20) Verily, verily, I say unto you.--Comp. Note on John 1:51.

That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice.--Comp. John 20:11, and Luke 23:27. In the original the contrast between the sorrow of the disciples and the joy of the world is rendered the more striking by the order of the words, "Weep and lament shall ye, but the world shall rejoice." The tears and the scoffs at the cross were the accomplishment of this prophecy.

And ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.--The expression is a full one. It is not simply that they shall pass from sorrow to joy, but that the sorrow itself shall become joy. They will rejoice in the presence of the Lord, when after a little while they will see Him and will feel that the separation necessarily went before the union, and that the sorrow was itself a matter of joy because it was the necessary cause of the joy (John 16:7, and John 20:20). . . .

Verse 20. - There is no exact or categoric reply to the very inquiry which he has heard and cited, but there is more of prophecy and help than if he had said, "Tomorrow I die and shall be laid in the grave, and on the third day I shall rise again." He had often said this, and they refused to understand. It was not merely a resurrection of the body, but the glorification in the Father of his entire Personality, for which he wished them to be prepared. A simple restoration like that of Lazarus would not have secured him from the malice of those who sought to put Lazarus also to death. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that weep and lament you shall, and the world shall rejoice. Here is his own account of the effect upon them of that he said, "A little while," and you will behold me, as you think, no more. The world will rejoice, because to some extent it will be the world's doing, and it will fancy for a little while that it has got its way and succeeded excellently well The world will roll a stone to his sepulcher, and make it as sure as they can, sealing the stone and setting a watch. Pharisaism will exult that this demand for a higher righteousness than its own is for ever hushed; Sadduceeism will rejoice that this troublesome witness to unseen and eternal things is silenced; the hierarchy will boast that now no danger prevails of the Romans taking away their place and nation; the world will praise the deed of blood; but all this rejoicing will last "a little while." Christ reaffirms their grief, and even for "a little while" justifies it, so long as they can hear the jubilate of the world over their personal burden of unutterable sorrow. He continues: You shall be sorrowful, but in a little while your sorrow shall be (ἐγένετο εἰς, Acts 4:11; Acts 5:36) turned into joy. Clearly because "you shall see me." It cannot be said that our Lord here positively asserts his resurrection; but when we remember how "the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord," how Mary ran "with great joy to bring his disciples word," we feel that here was the simple solution of the mystery, and that our Lord's intercourse with them in his resurrection-body was the great prelibation of the method of his continuous abiding with them in the power of his Spirit and the glorification of his body - we cannot doubt that this was his meaning and the purpose of the evangelist in recording it.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Truly,
ἀμὴν (amēn)
Hebrew Word
Strong's 281: Of Hebrew origin; properly, firm, i.e. trustworthy; adverbially, surely.

truly,
ἀμὴν (amēn)
Hebrew Word
Strong's 281: Of Hebrew origin; properly, firm, i.e. trustworthy; adverbially, surely.

I tell
λέγω (legō)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 1st Person Singular
Strong's 3004: (a) I say, speak; I mean, mention, tell, (b) I call, name, especially in the pass., (c) I tell, command.

you,
ὑμῖν (hymin)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Dative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

you
ὑμεῖς (hymeis)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

will weep
κλαύσετε (klausete)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 2799: To weep, weep for, mourn, lament. Of uncertain affinity; to sob, i.e. Wail aloud.

and
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

wail
θρηνήσετε (thrēnēsete)
Verb - Future Indicative Active - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 2354: Intrans: I lament, wail; trans: I bewail. From threnos; to bewail.

[while]
δὲ (de)
Conjunction
Strong's 1161: A primary particle; but, and, etc.

the
(ho)
Article - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

world
κόσμος (kosmos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2889: Probably from the base of komizo; orderly arrangement, i.e. Decoration; by implication, the world (morally).

rejoices.
χαρήσεται (charēsetai)
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 5463: A primary verb; to be 'cheer'ful, i.e. Calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation, be well.

You
ὑμεῖς (hymeis)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Nominative 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

will grieve,
λυπηθήσεσθε (lypēthēsesthe)
Verb - Future Indicative Passive - 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 3076: To pain, grieve, vex. From lupe; to distress; reflexively or passively, to be sad.

but
ἀλλ’ (all’)
Conjunction
Strong's 235: But, except, however. Neuter plural of allos; properly, other things, i.e. contrariwise.

your
ὑμῶν (hymōn)
Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 2nd Person Plural
Strong's 4771: You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou.

grief
λύπη (lypē)
Noun - Nominative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3077: Pain, grief, sorrow, affliction. Apparently a primary word; sadness.

will turn
γενήσεται (genēsetai)
Verb - Future Indicative Middle - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 1096: A prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; to cause to be, i.e. to become, used with great latitude.

to
εἰς (eis)
Preposition
Strong's 1519: A primary preposition; to or into, of place, time, or purpose; also in adverbial phrases.

joy.
χαρὰν (charan)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 5479: Joy, gladness, a source of joy. From chairo; cheerfulness, i.e. Calm delight.


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