Neh 8:9-11, 9:1-3, Ecc 3:4, Isa 22:12-13, Joe 2:17, Zec 7:5, Mat 9:15 | ESV | STEP | And Nehemiah , who was the governor , and Ezra the priest and scribe , and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people , This day is holy to the Lord your God ; do not mourn or weep . For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law .

y[See ver. 3 above]

z[2 Kgs. 25:25]

aaSee ch. 1:12

ab[Isa. 58:4, 5]

ac[Isa. 58:4, 5]

ad John 3:29

aeSee Luke 17:22

af[John 16:20]

Nehemiah 8:9-11

This Day Is Holy

9 And Nehemiah, who was ^athe governor, and Ezra ^bthe priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, ^c“This day is holy to the Lord your God; ^ddo not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. 10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and ^esend portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.”

Nehemiah 9:1-3

The People of Israel Confess Their Sin

1 Now on the twenty-fourth day of ^fthis month the people of Israel were assembled ^gwith fasting ^hand in sackcloth, ⁱand with earth on their heads. 2 ^jAnd the Israelites ^{▼▼Hebrew the offspring of Israel} separated themselves from all foreigners and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. 3 ^lAnd they stood up in their place and read from the Book of the Law of the Lord their God for a quarter of the day; for another quarter of it they made confession and worshiped the Lord their God.

Ecclesiastes 3:4

4 a time to ^mweep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to ⁿdance;

Isaiah 22:12-13

12 In that day ^othe Lord God of hosts
called for weeping and mourning,
for ^pbaldness and ^qwearing sackcloth;
13 and behold, joy and gladness,
killing oxen and slaughtering sheep,
eating flesh and drinking wine.
^r“Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die.”

Joel 2:17

17 ^sBetween the ^tvestibule and the ^ualtar
^vlet the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O Lord,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations. ^{▼▼Or reproach, that the nations should rule over them}
^xWhy should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

Zechariah 7:5

5 “Say to all the people of the land and the priests, 'When you fasted and mourned in ^ythe fifth month and in ^zthe seventh, for these ^aaseventy years, ^abwas it ^acfor me that you fasted?

Matthew 9:15

15 And Jesus said to them, ^ad“Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? ^aeThe days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and ^afthen they will fast.