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, 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