Amusements and Worldly Pleasures

How Nave’s arranged it

• Belong to the works of the fleshGalatians 5:19Galatians 5:21
• Are transitoryJob 21:12Job 21:13Hebrews 11:25
• VainEcclesiastes 2:11
• Choke the word of God in the heartLuke 8:14
• Formed a part of idolatrous worship withExodus 32:4Exodus 32:6Exodus 32:191 Corinthians 10:7Judges 16:23–25
• Lead to rejection of GodJob 21:14Job 21:15
• PovertyProverbs 21:17
• Disregard of the judgments and works of GodIsaiah 5:12Amos 6:1–6
• Terminate in sorrowProverbs 14:13
• Lead to greater evilJob 1:5Matthew 14:6–8
• The wicked seek for happiness inEcclesiastes 2:1Ecclesiastes 2:8
• Indulgence in is

The passages, in Bible order (38)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 16 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Exodus 32:4

   He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!”

   ›Commentary on Exodus 32:42 voices

   “This idol seems to have been the god Apis, the chief deity of the Egyptians, worshipped at Memphis under the form of a live ox, three years old. It was distinguished by a triangular white spot on its forehead and other peculiar marks.

   “Fashioned it with a graving tool - There has been much controversy about the meaning of the word חרט cheret in the text: some make it a mould, others a garment, cloth, or apron; some a purse or bag, and others a graver. It is likely that some mould was made on this occasion, that the gold when fused was cast into it, and that afterwards it was brought into form and symmetry by the action of the chisel and graver. These be thy gods, O Israel - The whole of this is a most strange and unaccountable transaction.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 32:4→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Exodus 32:6

   So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink, and got up to indulge in revelry.

   ›Commentary on Exodus 32:61 voice

   “The people sat down to eat and to drink - The burnt-offerings were wholly consumed; the peace-offerings, when the blood bad been poured out, became the food of the priests, etc. When therefore the strictly religious part of these ceremonies was finished, the people sat down to eat of the peace-offerings, and this they did merely as the idolaters, eating and drinking to excess.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 32:6→

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3. Exodus 32:19

   As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.

   ›Commentary on Exodus 32:191 voice

   “Moses was the meekest man on the earth, and yet when he saw the calf, and the dancing, his anger waxed hot. Note, It is no breach of the law of meekness to show our displeasure at the wickedness of the wicked. Those are angry and sin not that are angry at sin only, not as against themselves, but as against God.

   Everything gathered on Exodus 32:19→

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4. Judges 16:23–25

   Now the lords of the Philistines gathered together to offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon. They rejoiced and said, “Our god has delivered Samson our enemy into our hands.”

   ›Commentary on Judges 16:23–251 voice

   “Dagon was the national idol of the Philistines 1Ch 10:10, so called from Dag, a fish. The description of Dagon, in his temple at Ashdod 1Sa 5:4, exactly agrees with the representations of a fish-god on the walls of Khorsabad, on slabs at Kouyunjik, and on sundry antique cylinders and gems. In these the figures vary.

   Everything gathered on Judges 16:23–25→

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Job 1:5

   And when the days of feasting were over, Job would send for his children to purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

   ›Commentary on Job 1:52 voices

   “May be - His zeal for God's glory, and his true love to his children, made him jealous. Cursed - Not in a gross manner, which it is not probable either that they should do, or that Job should suspect it concerning them, but despised or dishonoured God; for both Hebrew and Greek words signifies cursing, are sometimes used to note only, reviling or setting light by a person.

   “GESENIUS says, the original sense is to "kneel," and thus it came to mean bending the knee in order to invoke either a blessing or a curse. Cursing is a perversion of blessing, as all sin is of goodness. Sin is a degeneracy, not a generation.

   Everything gathered on Job 1:5→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Job 21:12

   singing to the tambourine and lyre and making merry at the sound of the flute.

   ›Commentary on Job 21:122 voices

   “Here is none of that care taken of their children which Abraham took of his, to teach them the way of the Lord, Gen. xviii. Their children do not pray, or say their catechism, but dance, and sing, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. Sensual pleasures are all the delights of carnal people, and as men are themselves so they breed their children.

   “Ver. 12. They take the timbrel, and harp, and rejoice at the noise of the organ. As if he said in plain speech; 'Whilst the masters swell with honours and substance, the dependants rejoice in festive sports.' But, O blessed man, wherefore dost thou tell us all these many things of the delights of the wicked? It is now a long time that thou runnest on in the description of them; after much said, in one word point out what thou thinkest.

   Everything gathered on Job 21:12→

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7. Job 21:13

   They spend their days in prosperity and go down to Sheol in peace.

   ›Commentary on Job 21:132 voices

   They spend their days in wealth,.... Or "in good" (p); not in the performance of good works, or in the exercise of that which is spiritually good; or in seeking after spiritual good things, or eternal happiness; but in earthly good, in the enjoyment of the temporal good things of this life, and which to enjoy in a moderate and becoming manner is not criminal, but commendable; but these men, and such as they, seek no other good but worldly good; their language is, "who will show us any good?"

   “They spend their days in wealth - Margin, or, “mirth.” Literally, “they wear out their days in good” - בטוב baṭôb. Vulgate “in bonis.” Septuagint, ἐν ἀγαθοῖς en agathois - “in good things;” in the enjoyment of good. They are not oppressed with the evils of poverty and want, but they have abundance of “the good things” of life. And in a moment go down to the grave - Hebrew to שׁאול she'ôl - but here meaning evidently the grave.

   Everything gathered on Job 21:13→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Job 21:14

   Yet they say to God: ‘Leave us alone! For we have no desire to know Your ways.

   ›Commentary on Job 21:142 voices

   “Therefore--rather, "And yet they are such as say," &c., that is, say, not in so many words, but virtually, by their conduct (so the Gergesenes, Mt 8:34).

   “Or, (2.) To lessen the difficulty. God suffers them to prosper; but let us not wonder at it, for the prosperity of fools destroys them, by hardening them in sin, Prov. i. See how light these prospering sinners make of God and religion, as if because they have so much of this world they had no need to look after another.

   Everything gathered on Job 21:14→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Job 21:15

   Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’

   ›Commentary on Job 21:152 voices

   Pr 30:9, Margin, Ex 5:2). what profit-- (Job 35:3; Sinners ask, not what is right, but what is for the profit of self. They forget, "If religion cost self something, the want of it will cost self infinitely more."

   “Ver. 15. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? 52. For the mind of man being miserably discharged without, is so dissipated in things corporeal, as neither to return to itself within, nor to be able to think of Him, Who is invisible. Thus carnal men setting at nought spiritual commands, because they do not see God with bodily sight, one time or another come to this pass, that they even imagine Him not to be. Hence it is written, The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.

   Everything gathered on Job 21:15→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. Proverbs 14:13

    Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in sorrow.

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Proverbs 21:17

    He who loves pleasure will become poor; the one who loves wine and oil will never be rich.

    ›Commentary on Proverbs 21:171 voice

    “Wine and oil - i. e., The costly adjuncts of a princely banquet. The price of oil or precious unguent was about equal to the 300 days’ wages of a field laborer Mat 20:2. Indulgence in such a luxury would thus become the type of all extravagance and excess.

    Everything gathered on Proverbs 21:17→

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12. Ecclesiastes 2:1

    I said to myself, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure; enjoy what is good!” But it proved to be futile.

    ›Commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:12 voices

    “I said . . . heart-- (Lu 12:19). thee--my heart, I will test whether thou canst find that solid good in pleasure which was not in "worldly wisdom." But this also proves to be "vanity" (Isa 50:11).

    "I said to myself: Come, I will experiment with joy and enjoy pleasure. That, too, turned out to be futile." After I detected that pain and labour were in the essence of wisdom and the accumulation of knowledge, and nothing else except vain and endless struggle, I felt joyful that I would overflow with excess, accrue riches, amass great wealth, and take temporary pleasures before I die. But even in this I saw my vanity, for past pleasures do not help the present, and do not fill up what is empty.

    Everything gathered on Ecclesiastes 2:1→

    Verse page →Original language →

13. Ecclesiastes 2:8

    and I accumulated for myself silver and gold and the treasure of kings and provinces. I gathered to myself male and female singers, and the delights of the sons of men—many concubines.

    ›Commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:82 voices

    “1Co 12:2); or, one "allured" (2Pe 2:18, 19). yet acquainting . . . wisdom--literally, "and my heart (still) was behaving, or guiding itself," with wisdom [GESENIUS]. MAURER translates: "was weary of (worldly) wisdom." But the end of Ec 2:9 confirms English Version. folly--namely, pleasures of the flesh, termed "mad," Ec 2:2. all the days, &c.--(See Margin and Ec 6:12;

    “9:20). peculiar treasure of kings and . . . provinces--contributed by them, as tributary to him (1Ki 4:21, 24); a poor substitute for the wisdom whose "gain is better than fine gold" (Pr 3:14, 15). singers--so David (2Sa 19:35). musical instruments . . . of all sorts--introduced at banquets (Isa 5:12;

    Everything gathered on Ecclesiastes 2:8→

    Verse page →Original language →

14. Ecclesiastes 2:11

    Yet when I considered all the works that my hands had accomplished and what I had toiled to achieve, I found everything to be futile, a pursuit of the wind; there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

    ›Commentary on Ecclesiastes 2:112 voices

    “1Co 12:2); or, one "allured" (2Pe 2:18, 19). yet acquainting . . . wisdom--literally, "and my heart (still) was behaving, or guiding itself," with wisdom [GESENIUS]. MAURER translates: "was weary of (worldly) wisdom." But the end of Ec 2:9 confirms English Version. folly--namely, pleasures of the flesh, termed "mad," Ec 2:2. all the days, &c.--(See Margin and Ec 6:12;

    "Then I looked at all things that I had done and the energy I had expended in doing them. "He who does all things with diligence and wariness is able to say this. "It was clear that it was all futile and a vexation of the spirit, [and there is no profit under the sun.]" As if he considers that in comparison with other things, all things are cheap which are under the sun, and are different according to the variety of desires. "And there is no profit under the sun". Christ placed his tabernacle in the sun.

    Everything gathered on Ecclesiastes 2:11→

    Verse page →Original language →

15. Ecclesiastes 7:2

    It is better to enter a house of mourning than a house of feasting, since death is the end of every man, and the living should take this to heart.

    ›Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:22 voices

    “Proving that it is not a sensual enjoyment of earthly goods which is meant in Ec 3:13; A thankful use of these is right, but frequent feasting Solomon had found dangerous to piety in his own case.

    “If anyone wants to ascend, let him seek not the joys of the world or the pleasant things or the delights but whatever is filled with pain and weeping; for it is better to go into a house of sorrow than into a house of rejoicing. Indeed, Adam would not have come down from paradise unless he had been beguiled by pleasure.

    Everything gathered on Ecclesiastes 7:2→

    Verse page →Original language →

16. Ecclesiastes 7:3

    Sorrow is better than laughter, for a sad countenance is good for the heart.

    ›Commentary on Ecclesiastes 7:32 voices

    "Anger is better than laughter, for through a sad face the heart is improved. "Laughter weakens the mind, anger reproves and corrects it. Both let us become angry with ourselves when we sin, and let us get angry with others. Through the sadness of the face, even the spirit becomes better, as Symmachus saw it. And therefore "woe now to those who laugh, since they will mourn." [Luc. 6, 25.]

    “Sorrow is better than laughter,.... Sorrow, expressed in the house of mourning, is better, more useful and commendable, than that foolish laughter, and those airs of levity, expressed in the house of feasting; or sorrow on account of affliction and troubles, even adversity itself, is oftentimes much more profitable, and conduces more to the good of men, than prosperity; or sorrow for sin, a godly sorrow, a sorrow after a godly sort, which works repentance unto salvation, that needeth not to be repented of, is to be preferred to all carnal mirth and jollity.

    Everything gathered on Ecclesiastes 7:3→

    Verse page →Original language →