2 Esdras 16:38-40

Revised Standard Version

³⁸ Just as a woman with child, in the ninth month, when the time of her delivery draws near, has great pains about her womb for two or three hours beforehand, and when the child comes forth from the womb, there will not be a moment’s delay, ³⁹ so the calamities will not delay in coming forth upon the earth, and the world will groan, and pains will seize it on every side.

⁴⁰ “Hear my words, O my people; prepare for battle, and in the midst of the calamities be like strangers on the earth.