¹⁷ As a pregnant woman about to give birth^(A)
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
    so were we in your presence, Lord.

³ At this my body is racked with pain,^(A)
    pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;^(B)
I am staggered by what I hear,
    I am bewildered^(C) by what I see.

⁸ Terror^(A) will seize them,
    pain and anguish will grip^(B) them;
    they will writhe like a woman in labor.^(C)
They will look aghast at each other,
    their faces aflame.^(D)

⁶ Ask and see:
    Can a man bear children?
Then why do I see every strong man
    with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,^(A)
    every face turned deathly pale?^(B)

²⁴ We have heard reports about them,
    and our hands hang limp.^(A)
Anguish^(B) has gripped us,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.^(C)

³¹ I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,^(A)
    a groan as of one bearing her first child—
the cry of Daughter Zion^(B) gasping for breath,^(C)
    stretching out her hands^(D) and saying,
“Alas! I am fainting;
    my life is given over to murderers.”^(E)

⁶ Trembling seized^(A) them there,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.^(B)