¹⁶ Lord, they came to you in their distress;^(A)
    when you disciplined^(B) them,
    they could barely whisper^(C) a prayer.^[a]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth^(D)
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
    so were we in your presence, Lord.
¹⁸ We were with child, we writhed in labor,
    but we gave birth^(E) to wind.
We have not brought salvation^(F) to the earth,
    and the people of the world have not come to life.^(G)

¹⁹ But your dead^(H) will live, Lord;
    their bodies will rise—
let those who dwell in the dust^(I)
    wake up and shout for joy—
your dew^(J) is like the dew of the morning;
    the earth will give birth to her dead.^(K)

²⁰ Go, my people, enter your rooms
    and shut the doors^(L) behind you;
hide^(M) yourselves for a little while
    until his wrath^(N) has passed by.^(O)
21 See, the Lord is coming^(P) out of his dwelling^(Q)
    to punish^(R) the people of the earth for their sins.
The earth will disclose the blood^(S) shed on it;
    the earth will conceal its slain no longer.

the Lord will punish with his sword^(U)—
    his fierce, great and powerful sword—
Leviathan^(V) the gliding serpent,^(W)
    Leviathan the coiling serpent;
he will slay the monster^(X) of the sea.