Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?

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Ask and see:
    Can a man bear children?
Then why do I see every strong man
    with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor,(A)
    every face turned deathly pale?(B)

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10 She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness.

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10 She is pillaged, plundered, stripped!
    Hearts melt,(A) knees give way,
    bodies tremble, every face grows pale.(B)

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Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.

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At the sight of them, nations are in anguish;(A)
    every face turns pale.(B)

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31 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers.

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31 I hear a cry as of a woman in labor,(A)
    a groan as of one bearing her first child—
the cry of Daughter Zion(B) gasping for breath,(C)
    stretching out her hands(D) and saying,
“Alas! I am fainting;
    my life is given over to murderers.”(E)

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Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.

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At this my body is racked with pain,(A)
    pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor;(B)
I am staggered by what I hear,
    I am bewildered(C) by what I see.

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For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

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While people are saying, “Peace and safety,”(A) destruction will come on them suddenly,(B) as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.(C)

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13 The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he is an unwise son; for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of children.

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13 Pains as of a woman in childbirth(A) come to him,
    but he is a child without wisdom;
when the time(B) arrives,
    he doesn’t have the sense to come out of the womb.(C)

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23 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail!

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23 You who live in ‘Lebanon,[a](A)
    who are nestled in cedar buildings,
how you will groan when pangs come upon you,
    pain(B) like that of a woman in labor!

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 22:23 That is, the palace in Jerusalem (see 1 Kings 7:2)

24 We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

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24 We have heard reports about them,
    and our hands hang limp.(A)
Anguish(B) has gripped us,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.(C)

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Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.

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Trembling seized(A) them there,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.(B)

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21 A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.

22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.

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21 A woman giving birth to a child has pain(A) because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. 22 So with you: Now is your time of grief,(B) but I will see you again(C) and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.(D)

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Now why dost thou cry out aloud? is there no king in thee? is thy counsellor perished? for pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail.

10 Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there the Lord shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

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Why do you now cry aloud—
    have you no king[a](A)?
Has your ruler[b] perished,
    that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?(B)
10 Writhe in agony, Daughter Zion,
    like a woman in labor,
for now you must leave the city
    to camp in the open field.
You will go to Babylon;(C)
    there you will be rescued.
There the Lord will redeem(D) you
    out of the hand of your enemies.

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Footnotes

  1. Micah 4:9 Or King
  2. Micah 4:9 Or Ruler

Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another.

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His face turned pale(A) and he was so frightened(B) that his legs became weak(C) and his knees were knocking.(D)

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