My lyre is turned to mourning, and my pipe to the voice of those who weep.
The joy of our hearts has ceased; our dancing has been turned to mourning.
My heart staggers; horror has appalled me; the twilight I longed for has been turned for me into trembling.
Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
The wine mourns, the vine languishes, all the merry-hearted sigh. The mirth of the tambourines is stilled, the noise of the jubilant has ceased, the mirth of the lyre is stilled. No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it.
In that day the Lord God of hosts called for weeping and mourning, for baldness and wearing sackcloth;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion. On the willows there we hung up our lyres. For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?
Unless otherwise indicated, all content is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Contact me: openbibleinfo (at) gmail.com.