3 For thus says the Lord concerning the sons and daughters who are born in this place, and concerning the mothers who bore them and the fathers who fathered them in this land: 4 ^jThey shall die of deadly diseases. ^kThey shall not be lamented, nor shall they be buried. ^lThey shall be as dung on the surface of the ground. ^mThey shall perish by the sword and by famine, ⁿand their dead bodies shall be food for the birds of the air and for the beasts of the earth.

6 Both great and small shall die in this land. ^kThey shall not be buried, and no one shall lament for them or ^pcut himself ^qor make himself bald for them. 7 No one shall ^rbreak bread for the mourner, to comfort him for the dead, nor shall anyone give him the cup of consolation to drink for his father or his mother.

9 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ^sBehold, I will silence in this place, before your eyes and in your days, the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride.