“Because you have not served the Lord your God joyfully and wholeheartedly with the abundance of everything you have,

The entire assembly then decided to celebrate for seven more days; so they joyfully celebrated for seven more days.

You lead me in the path of life; I experience absolute joy in your presence; you always give me sheer delight.

For you grant him lasting blessings; you give him great joy by allowing him into your presence.

Then you turned my lament into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and covered me with joy.

Then I will go to the altar of God, to the God who gives me ecstatic joy, so that I express my thanks to you, O God, my God, with a harp.

so I may see the prosperity of your chosen ones, rejoice along with your nation, and boast along with the people who belong to you.

for there our captors ask us to compose songs; those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying: “Sing for us a song about Zion!”

The one who loves pleasure will be a poor person; whoever loves wine and anointing oil will not be rich.

They howl in the streets because of what happened to the wine; all joy turns to sorrow; celebrations disappear from the earth.

The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord; the poor among humankind will take delight in the Holy One of Israel.

Our food has been cut off right before our eyes! There is no longer any joy or gladness in the temple of our God!

And on that day they offered great sacrifices and rejoiced, for God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard from far away.

as the time when the Jews gave themselves rest from their enemies – the month when their trouble was turned to happiness and their mourning to a holiday. These were to be days of banqueting, happiness, sending gifts to one another, and providing for the poor.

Why did you run away secretly and deceive me? Why didn’t you tell me so I could send you off with a celebration complete with singing, tambourines, and harps?

The rulers of the Philistines gathered to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate. They said, “Our god has handed Samson, our enemy, over to us.”

All the people followed him up, playing flutes and celebrating so loudly they made the ground shake.

David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint some of their relatives as musicians; they were to play various instruments, including stringed instruments and cymbals, and to sing loudly and joyfully.

So David, the leaders of Israel, and the commanders of units of a thousand went to bring up the ark of the Lord’s covenant from the house of Obed-Edom with celebration.

The people were delighted with their donations, for they contributed to the Lord with a willing attitude; King David was also very happy.