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Isaiah 26:17

Suffering

15 You have enlarged the nation, O LORD; You have enlarged the nation. You have gained glory for Yourself; You have extended all the borders of the land.

16 O LORD, they sought You in their distress; when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.

As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.

18 We were with child; we writhed in pain; but we gave birth to wind. We have given no salvation to the earth, nor brought any life into the world.

19 Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For your dew is like the dew of the morning, and the earth will bring forth her dead.

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This was said to Israel at a particular time, so it is wise to read it together with the surrounding text. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB
As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.
KJV
Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD.
WEB
Just as a woman with child, who draws near the time of her delivery, is in pain and cries out in her pangs, so we have been before you, LORD.
ASV
Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain and crieth out in her pangs; so we have been before thee, O Jehovah.
DARBY
As a woman with child, that draweth near her delivery, is in travail, [and] crieth out in her pangs; so have we been before thee, Jehovah.
BLB
Like a pregnant woman drawing near to giving birth writhes and cries out in pain, so have we been before Your face, O YHWH.
ÅB
Slik som en fruktsommelig kvinne vrir seg og skriker i sine veer når hun skal føde, slik gikk det oss for din vredes skyld, Herre!
OTB
Som en gravid kvinne som skal føde vrir seg og roper i sine fødselsveer, slik var vi i din nærhet, Herre.
B1930
Likesom en fruktsommelig kvinne vrir sig og skriker i sine veer når hun skal føde, således gikk det oss for din vredes skyld, Herre!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Isaiah 13:8

    Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.

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  • John 16:21

    A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

    Read in context

  • Isaiah 21:3

    Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.

    Read in context

  • 1 Thessalonians 5:3

    While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

    Read in context

  • Jeremiah 4:31

    For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to say, “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the murderers!”

    Read in context

  • Jeremiah 6:24

    We have heard the report; our hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped us, pain like that of a woman in labor.

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  • Psalms 48:6

    Trembling seized them there, anguish like a woman in labor.

    Read in context

  • Jeremiah 30:6

    Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?

    Read in context