¹⁴ The old men are no longer seated in the doorway, and the music of the young men has come to an end.

³⁴ And in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, I will put an end to the laughing voices, the voice of joy and the voice of the newly-married man and the voice of the bride: for the land will become a waste.

²² And the voice of players and makers of music will never again be sounding in you: and no worker, expert in art, will ever again be living in you; and there will be no sound of the crushing of grain any more at all in you;

¹³ I will put an end to the noise of your songs, and the sound of your instruments of music will be gone for ever.

¹⁰ The responsible men of the daughter of Zion are seated on the earth without a word; they have put dust on their heads, they are clothed in haircloth: the heads of the virgins of Jerusalem are bent down to the earth.

¹⁹ I sent for my lovers, but they were false to me: my priests and my responsible men were breathing their last breath in the town, while they were looking for food to give them new life.

⁴ The ways of Zion are sad, because no one comes to the holy meeting; all her doorways are made waste, her priests are breathing out sorrow: her virgins are troubled, and it is bitter for her.

¹⁰ And more than this, I will take from them the sound of laughing voices, the voice of joy, the voice of the newly-married man, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the stones crushing the grain, and the shining of lights.

⁹ For the Lord of armies, the God of Israel, has said, See, before your eyes and in your days I will put an end in this place to the laughing voices and the voice of joy; to the voice of the newly-married man and the voice of the bride.

⁷ The new wine is thin, the vine is feeble, and all the glad-hearted make sounds of grief.

⁸ The pleasing sound of all instruments of music has come to an end, and the voices of those who are glad.

⁹ There is no more drinking of wine with a song; strong drink will be bitter to those who take it.

¹⁰ The town is waste and broken down: every house is shut up, so that no man may come in.

¹¹ There is a crying in the streets because of the wine; there is an end of all delight, the joy of the land is gone.

² The strong man and the man of war; the judge and the prophet; the man who has knowledge of secret arts, and the man who is wise because of his years;

³ The captain of fifty, and the man of high position, and the wise guide, and the wonder-worker, and he who makes use of secret powers.

³¹ And my music has been turned to sorrow, and the sound of my pipe into the noise of weeping.

¹ But now those who are younger than I make sport of me; those whose fathers I would not have put with the dogs of my flocks.

⁷ When I went out of my door to go up to the town, and took my seat in the public place,

⁸ The young men saw me, and went away, and the old men got up from their seats;

⁹ The rulers kept quiet, and put their hands on their mouths;

¹⁰ The chiefs kept back their words, and their tongues were joined to the roofs of their mouths.

¹¹ For when it came to their ears, men said that I was truly happy; and when their eyes saw, they gave witness to me;

¹² For I was a saviour to the poor when he was crying for help, to the child with no father, and to him who had no supporter.

¹³ The blessing of him who was near to destruction came on me, and I put a song of joy into the widow's heart.

¹⁴ I put on righteousness as my clothing, and was full of it; right decisions were to me a robe and a head-dress.

¹⁵ I was eyes to the blind, and feet to him who had no power of walking.

¹⁶ I was a father to the poor, searching out the cause of him who was strange to me.

¹⁷ By me the great teeth of the evil-doer were broken, and I made him give up what he had violently taken away.

¹⁸ You are to make judges and overseers in all your towns which the Lord your God gives you, for every tribe: and they are to be upright men, judging the people in righteousness.