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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

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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