Joy and delight have vanished from the orchards. No songs are sung. No shouts are raised. No one stomps on grapes in the winepresses, because I have put an end to the shouts of joy.
At their feasts there are lyres and harps, tambourines and flutes, and wine. Yet, they don’t pay attention to what the Lord is doing or see what his hands have done.
That is why the grave’s appetite increases. It opens its mouth very wide so that honored people and common people will go down into it. Those who are noisy and joyous will go down into it.
This is what the Lord of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I’m going to put a stop to the sounds of joy and happiness and the sounds of brides and grooms in this place. This will happen in your lifetime, while you watch.
In the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, I will banish the sounds of joy and happiness and the sounds of brides and grooms, because the land will be a wasteland.”
You were in Eden, God’s garden. You were covered with every kind of precious stone: red quartz, topaz, crystal, beryl, onyx, gray quartz, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your settings and your sockets were made of gold when you were created.
The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters will never be heard in it again. A skilled craftsman—regardless of the type of craft— will never be found in it again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in it again.