Bible Strands
Proverbs 14:13
Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in sorrow.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The wisdom writer addresses Israel in a sequence of moral contrasts, positioning this observation between a warning about deceptive paths and a description of spiritual division.
The words — The Hebrew בִּשְׂחֹק (biśḥōq) means "in laughter," paired with יִכְאַב לֵב (yikʾaḇ lēḇ), literally "the heart aches," to describe an internal reality beneath external merriment.
The thread — This tension between outward celebration and inward sorrow echoes in Ecclesiastes 2:2, which calls mere laughter folly, and James 4:9, which commands turning laughter to mourning.
Why it lands — The text states that joy can mask internal pain and conclude in grief, demanding readers examine hidden consequences rather than trusting surface appearances.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness.
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 2:2 I said of laughter, “It is folly,” and of pleasure, “What does it accomplish?”
- James 4:9 Grieve, mourn, and weep. Turn your laughter to mourning, and your joy to gloom.
- Proverbs 5:4 in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
- Ecclesiastes 2:10 Anything my eyes desired, I did not deny myself. I refused my heart no pleasure. For my heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
- Ecclesiastes 7:5 It is better to heed a wise man’s rebuke than to listen to the song of fools.
- Ecclesiastes 11:9 Rejoice, O young man, while you are young, and let your heart be glad in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and in the sight of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgment.
- Luke 16:25 But Abraham answered, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things. But now he is comforted here, while you are in agony.
- Revelation 18:7 As much as she has glorified herself and lived in luxury, give her the same measure of torment and grief. In her heart she says, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow and will never see grief.’