Context Reading
5The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant. 6Therefore a curse has consumed the earth, and its inhabitants must bear the guilt; the earth’s dwellers have been burned, and only a few survive. 7The new wine dries up, the vine withers. All the merrymakers now groan. 8The joyful tambourines have ceased; the noise of revelers has stopped; the joyful harp is silent. 9They no longer sing and drink wine; strong drink is bitter to those who consume it.