“The congregation assembled to be ready for battle. They assembled to pray and ask for mercy and compassion.
‘Jerusalem was uninhabited like a wilderness.
Not one of her children went in or out.
The sanctuary was trampled down.
The sons of aliens held the citadel.
It was a lodging place for the gentiles.
Joy was taken from Jacob,
The flute and the harp ceased to play.’”
The Israelites gathered to pray. As they readied for the battle, they prayed for mercy and compassion. They lamented the situation in Jerusalem which had become a wilderness. No one went in or out as the sanctuary was trampled. The sons of aliens were in the citadel in Jerusalem. There no longer was joy from the land of Jacob as the flute and the harp ceased to play, just like the day the music stopped.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 