16 Lord, they went to you in their distress;(A)
they poured out whispered prayers
because your discipline fell on them.[a]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth
writhes and cries out in her pains,(B)
so we were before you, Lord.
18 We became pregnant, we writhed in pain;
we gave birth to wind.
We have won no victories on earth,
and the earth’s inhabitants have not fallen.

19 Your dead will live; their bodies[b] will rise.(C)
Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust!
For you will be covered with the morning dew,[c]
and the earth will bring out the departed spirits.

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Footnotes

  1. 26:16 Hb obscure
  2. 26:19 Lit live; my body they
  3. 26:19 Lit For your dew is a dew of lights

16 O Lord, in distress they sought you;
    they poured out a prayer[a]
    when your chastening was on them.(A)
17 Like a woman with child
    about to give birth
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
so were we because of you, O Lord;(B)
18     we were with child; we writhed,
    but we gave birth only to wind.
We have won no victories on earth,
    and no one is born to inhabit the world.(C)
19 Your dead shall live; their corpses[b] shall rise.
    Those who dwell in the dust will awake and shout for joy![c]
For your dew is a radiant dew,
    and the earth will give birth to those long dead.[d](D)

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Footnotes

  1. 26.16 Meaning of Heb uncertain
  2. 26.19 Cn Compare Syr Tg: Heb my corpse
  3. 26.19 Q ms Compare Gk Syr: MT dust, awake and shout for joy!
  4. 26.19 Heb to the shades