^17 (A)As the ^[a]woman with child draws near to the time to give birth,
She writhes and cries out in her pangs of labor,
Thus were we before You, O Yahweh.

⁶ A voice of rumbling from the city, a voice from the temple,
The voice of Yahweh who is ^(A)paying recompense to His enemies.

⁷ “Before she was in labor pains, ^(B)she gave birth;
Before her pangs came, ^(C)she delivered a male child.
^8 (D)Who has heard such a thing? Who has seen such things?
Can a land be ^[a]brought forth through labor pains in one day?
Can a nation be born all at once?
As soon as Zion was in labor pains, she also gave birth to her sons.
⁹ Shall I bring to the point of breaking forth and ^(E)not cause birth?” says Yahweh.
“Or shall I who causes birth shut the womb?” says your God.

⁹ “Now, why do you ^(A)make a loud shout?
Is there no king among you,
Or has your ^(B)counselor perished,
That writhing has taken hold of you like a woman in childbirth?
^10 (C)Writhe and labor to give birth,
Daughter of Zion,
Like a woman in childbirth;
For now you will ^(D)go out of the city,
Dwell in the field,
And go to Babylon.
^(E)There you will be delivered;
^(F)There Yahweh will redeem you
From the hand of your enemies.
¹¹ But now ^(G)many nations have been assembled against you
Who say, ‘Let her be polluted,
And let our eyes behold Zion in triumph.’
¹² But they do not ^(H)know the thoughts of Yahweh,
And they do not understand His counsel;
For He has gathered them like sheaves to the threshing floor.
¹³ Arise and ^(I)thresh, daughter of Zion,
For your horn I will make iron,
And your hoofs I will make bronze,
That you may ^(J)pulverize many peoples,
That you may ^(K)devote to Yahweh their greedy gain unto destruction
And their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.