The selection Rejoice in Joy is from the group Celebrating Good Times and created by BibleSearch.org
Listen to many joyful stories and learn about what the Bible describes as joy.
This selection contains the following Bible passages:
Luke 6:20-26,
Luke 10:17-20,
Acts 5:17-42,
Acts 8:26-40,
Acts 13:44-52,
Acts 16:25-34,
Galatians 5:1-26,
Philippians 2:1-18,
Philippians 4:4-20,
Colossians 1:1-29,
1 Thessalonians 5:1-28,
1 Peter 1:1-25,
1 Peter 5:1-14,
Matthew 10:40-42,
shown in American Standard Version.
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh.
Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you , and reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
Rejoice in that day, and leap : for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for in the same manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.
Woe unto you, ye that are full now! for ye shall hunger. Woe , ye that laugh now! for ye shall mourn and weep.
Woe , when all men shall speak well of you! for in the same manner did their fathers to the false prophets.
And the seventy returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject unto us in thy name.
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan fallen as lightning from heaven.
Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall in any wise hurt you.
Nevertheless in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
But the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy,
and laid hands on the apostles, and put them in public ward.
But an angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them out, and said,
Go ye, and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this Life.
And when they heard , they entered into the temple about daybreak, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison-house to have them brought.
But the officers that came found them not in the prison; and they returned, and told,
saying, The prison-house we found shut in all safety, and the keepers standing at the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.
Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were much perplexed concerning them whereunto this would grow.
And there came one and told them, Behold, the men whom ye put in the prison are in the temple standing and teaching the people.
Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them, without violence; for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned.
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them,
saying, We strictly charged you not to teach in this name: and behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
But Peter and the apostles answered and said, We must obey God rather than men.
The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree.
Him did God exalt with his right hand a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins.
And we are witnesses of these things; and the Holy Spirit, whom God hath given to them that obey him.
But they, when they heard this, were cut to the heart, and minded to slay them.
But there stood up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in honor of all the people, and commanded to put the men forth a little while.
And he said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves as touching these men, what ye are about to do.
For before these days rose up Theudas, giving himself out to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed, and came to nought.
After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the enrolment, and drew away people after him: he also perished; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad.
And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will be overthrown:
but if it is of God, ye will not be able to overthrow them; lest haply ye be found even to be fighting against God.
And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles unto them, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.
They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.
And every day, in the temple and at home, they ceased not to teach and to preach Jesus the Christ.
But an angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza: the same is desert.
And he arose and went: and behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship;
and he was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.
And the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.
And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?
And he said, How can I, except some one shall guide me? And he besought Philip to come up and sit with him.
Now the passage of the Scripture which he was reading was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; And as a lamb before his shearer is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth:
In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: His generation who shall declare? For his life is taken from the earth.
And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other?
And Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached unto him Jesus.
And as they went on the way, they came unto a certain water; and the eunuch saith, Behold, water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip; and the eunuch saw him no more, for he went on his way rejoicing.
But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached the gospel to all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.
And the next sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of God.
But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed.
And Paul and Barnabas spake out boldly, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first be spoken to you. Seeing ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
For so hath the Lord commanded us, , I have set thee for a light of the Gentiles, That thou shouldest be for salvation unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And as the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of God: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed.
And the word of the Lord was spread abroad throughout all the region.
But the Jews urged on the devout women of honorable estate, and the chief men of the city, and stirred up a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and cast them out of their borders.
But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.
And the disciples were filled with joy with the Holy Spirit.
But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
And the jailor, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
And he called for lights and sprang in, and, trembling for fear, fell down before Paul and Silas,
and brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and thou shalt be saved, thou and thy house.
And they spake the word of the Lord unto him, with all that were in his house.
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, immediately.
And he brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his house, having believed in God.
For freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.
Behold, I Paul say unto you, that, if ye receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing.
Yea, I testify again to every man that receiveth circumcision, that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
Ye are severed from Christ, ye would be justified by the law; ye are fallen away from grace.
For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness.
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love.
Ye were running well; who hindered you that ye should not obey the truth?
This persuasion not of him that calleth you.
A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
I have confidence to you-ward in the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.
But I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still persecuted? then hath the stumbling-block of the cross been done away.
I would that they that unsettle you would even go beyond circumcision.
For ye, brethren, were called for freedom; only not your freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants one to another.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in this: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary the one to the other; that ye may not do the things that ye would.
But if ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are : fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousies, wraths, factions, divisions, parties,
envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and such like; of which I forewarn you, even as I did forewarn you, that they who practise such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
meekness, self-control; against such there is no law.
And they that are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts thereof.
If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.
Let us not become vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another.
If there is therefore any exhortation in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tender mercies and compassions,
make full my joy, that ye be of the same mind, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind;
nothing through faction or through vainglory, but in lowliness of mind each counting other better than himself;
not looking each of you to his own things, but each of you also to the things of others.
Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
who, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped,
but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men;
and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, yea, the death of the cross.
Wherefore also God highly exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above every name;
that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;
for it is God who worketh in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.
Do all things without murmurings and questionings:
that ye may become blameless and harmless, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom ye are seen as lights in the world,
holding forth the word of life; that I may have whereof to glory in the day of Christ, that I did not run in vain neither labor in vain.
Yea, and if I am offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy, and rejoice with you all:
and in the same manner do ye also joy, and rejoice with me.
Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice.
Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
But I rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length ye have revived your thought for me; wherein ye did indeed take thought, but ye lacked opportunity.
Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content.
I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want.
I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me.
Howbeit ye did well that ye had fellowship with my affliction.
And ye yourselves also know, ye Philippians, that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church had fellowship with me in the matter of giving and receiving but ye only;
for even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my need.
Not that I seek for the gift; but I seek for the fruit that increaseth to your account.
But I have all things, and abound: I am filled, having received from Epaphroditus the things from you, and odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God.
And my God shall supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Now unto our God and Father the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus through the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
We give thanks to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
having heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and of the love which ye have toward all the saints,
because of the hope which is laid up for you in the heavens, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,
which is come unto you; even as it is also in all the world bearing fruit and increasing, as in you also, since the day ye heard and knew the grace of God in truth;
even as ye learned of Epaphras our beloved fellow-servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf,
who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.
For this cause we also, since the day we heard , do not cease to pray and make request for you, that ye may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
to walk worthily of the Lord unto all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
strengthened with all power, according to the might of his glory, unto all patience and longsuffering with joy;
giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;
who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;
in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins:
who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;
for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him;
and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
For it was the good pleasure that in him should all the fulness dwell;
and through him to reconcile all things unto himself, having made peace through the blood of his cross; through him, , whether things upon the earth, or things in the heavens.
And you, being in time past alienated and enemies in your mind in your evil works,
yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and without blemish and unreproveable before him:
if so be that ye continue in the faith, grounded and stedfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye heard, which was preached in all creation under heaven; whereof I Paul was made a minister.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body's sake, which is the church;
whereof I was made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which was given me to you-ward, to fulfil the word of God,
the mystery which hath been hid for ages and generations: but now hath it been manifested to his saints,
to whom God was pleased to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
whom we proclaim, admonishing every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ;
whereunto I labor also, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.
But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you.
For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief:
for ye are all sons of light, and sons of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness;
so then let us not sleep, as do the rest, but let us watch and be sober.
For they that sleep sleep in the night: and they that are drunken are drunken in the night.
But let us, since we are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for a helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God appointed us not into wrath, but unto the obtaining of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.
Wherefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as also ye do.
But we beseech you, brethren, to know them that labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;
and to esteem them exceeding highly in love for their work's sake. Be at peace among yourselves.
And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the disorderly, encourage the fainthearted, support the weak, be longsuffering toward all.
See that none render unto any one evil for evil; but always follow after that which is good, one toward another, and toward all.
Rejoice always;
pray without ceasing;
in everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward.
Quench not the Spirit;
despise not prophesyings;
prove all things; hold fast that which is good;
abstain from every form of evil.
And the God of peace himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it.
Brethren, pray for us.
Salute all the brethren with a holy kiss.
I adjure you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the brethren.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
Blessed the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials,
that the proof of your faith, more precious than gold that perisheth though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ:
whom not having seen ye love; on whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of souls.
Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that unto you:
searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them.
To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven; which things angel desire to look into.
Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in your ignorance:
but like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living;
because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.
And if ye call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear:
knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers;
but with precious blood, as of a lamb without spot, of Christ:
who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of times for your sake,
who through him are believers in God, that raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.
Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently:
having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth.
For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth:
But the word of the Lord abideth for ever. And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you.
The elders among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according to God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.
And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.
Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;
casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you.
Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,
whom withstand stedfast in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your brethren who are in the world.
And the God of all grace, who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ, after that ye have suffered a little while, shall himself perfect, establish, strengthen you.
To him the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I account , I have written unto you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand ye fast therein.
She that is in Babylon, elect together with , saluteth you; and Mark my son.
Salute one another with a kiss of love. Peace be unto you all that are in Christ.
He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward: and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward.
And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only, in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you he shall in no wise lose his reward.
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