For thus said יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of Yisra’ĕl, “See, before your eyes and in your days, I am making the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride to cease in this place.
And I shall banish from them the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.
“And in the cities of Yehuḏah and in the streets of Yerushalayim I shall make to cease the voice of rejoicing and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride. For the land shall become a waste!
I called for my lovers, but they deceived me. My priests and my elders breathed their last in the city, While they sought food to bring back their life.
The ways to Tsiyon mourn For no one comes to the appointed times. All her gates are deserted, Her priests sigh, her maidens are afflicted, And she has bitterness.
The elders of the daughter of Tsiyon Sit on the ground, are silent. They have thrown dust on their heads, They have girded themselves with sackcloth. The maidens of Yerushalayim Have let their heads hang to the ground.
“And I shall punish her for the days of the Ba‛als to which she burned incense and adorned herself with her rings and jewelry, and went after her lovers, and forgot Me,” declares יהוה.
“Appoint judges and officers within all your gates, which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, according to your tribes. And they shall judge the people with righteous right-ruling.
“And the sound of harpists, and musicians, and flautists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you any more at all. And no craftsman of any trade shall be found in you any more at all. And the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you any more at all.