²⁴ Damascus has become feeble; she turned to flee,
    and panic seized her;
anguish and pangs seize her,
    as of a woman in labor.

³¹ For I heard a cry as of a woman in labor,
    anguish as of one bringing forth her first child,
the cry of daughter Zion gasping for breath,
    stretching out her hands,
“Woe is me! I am fainting before killers!”^(A)

⁶ Ask now and see:
    Can a man bear a child?
Why then do I see every man
    with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor?
    Why has every face turned pale?^(A)

²¹ What will you say when they set as head over you
    those whom you have trained
    to be your allies?
Will not pangs seize you
    like those of a woman in labor?^(A)

¹⁹ My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain!
    Oh, the walls of my heart!
My heart is beating wildly;
    I cannot keep silent,
for I^[a] hear the sound of the trumpet,
    the alarm of war.^(A)
20 Disaster overtakes disaster;
    the whole land is laid waste.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
    my curtains in a moment.^(B)
21 How long must I see the standard
    and hear the sound of the trumpet?

¹⁹ As often as it passes through, it will take you,
    for morning by morning it will pass through,
    by day and by night,
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.”^(A)

³ Therefore my loins are filled with anguish;
    pangs have seized me
    like the pangs of a woman in labor;
I am bowed down so that I cannot hear;
    I am dismayed so that I cannot see.^(A)