Jeremiah 7:34

7:34 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, or the glad celebration of brides and grooms throughout the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. For the whole land will become a desolate wasteland.”

Jeremiah 16:9

16:9 For I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, tell you what will happen. ¹  I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in this land. You and the rest of the people will live to see this happen.’” ² 

Jeremiah 25:10

25:10 I will put an end to the sounds of joy and gladness, to the glad celebration of brides and grooms in these lands. ³  I will put an end to the sound of people grinding meal. I will put an end to lamps shining in their houses. ⁴ 

John 3:29

3:29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly ⁵  when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. This then is my joy, and it is complete. ⁶ 

Revelation 18:23

18:23 Even the light from a lamp

will never shine in you again!

The voices of the bridegroom and his bride

will never be heard in you again.

For your merchants were the tycoons of the world,

because all the nations ⁷  were deceived by your magic spells! ⁸ 

¹ tn Heb “For thus says Yahweh of armies the God of Israel.” The introductory formula which appears three times in vv. 1-9 (vv. 1, 3, 5) has been recast for smoother English style.

² tn Heb “before your eyes and in your days.” The pronouns are plural including others than Jeremiah.

³ sn Compare Jer 7:24 and 16:9 for this same dire prediction limited to Judah and Jerusalem.

⁴ sn The sound of people grinding meal and the presence of lamps shining in their houses were signs of everyday life. The Lord is going to make these lands desolate (v. 11) destroying all signs of life. (The statement is, of course, hyperbolic or poetic exaggeration; even after the destruction of Jerusalem many people were left in the land.) For these same descriptions of everyday life applying to the end of life see the allegory in Eccl 12:3-6.

⁵ tn Grk “rejoices with joy” (an idiom).

⁶ tn Grk “Therefore this my joy is fulfilled.”

⁷ tn Or “all the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

⁸ tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”