³ Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    pangs have seized me
    like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
    I am dismayed so that I cannot see.^(A)

⁶ Ask now and see:
    Can a man bear a child?
Why then do I see every man
    with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor?
    Why has every face turned pale?^(A)

²⁴ Damascus has become feeble; she turned to flee,
    and panic seized her;
anguish and pangs seize her,
    as of a woman in labor.