16 O Lord, (A)in distress they sought you;
    they poured out a whispered prayer
    when your discipline was upon them.
17 (B)Like a pregnant woman
    who writhes and cries out in her pangs
    when she is near to giving birth,
so were we because of you, O Lord;
18     (C)we were pregnant, we writhed,
    but we have given birth to wind.
We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,
    and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
19 (D)Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
    You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For (E)your dew is a dew of light,
    and the earth will give birth to the dead.

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16 Lord, in distress they sought you out;
    they poured out prayers to you when you disciplined them.
17 As a pregnant woman close to childbirth is in labor pains,
    crying out in her pangs,
    so were we because of you, Lord.
18 We were pregnant, we writhed,
but we gave birth to wind.
We have achieved no victories on earth;
    the inhabitants of the earth never fall.

19 Your dead will live, their[a] corpses will rise,
    and those who dwell in the dust will shout for joy.
Your shadow is a shadow of light,
    but you will bring down the ghosts into the underworld.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:19 Or my