Isaiah 26:16-18

New International Version

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)