John 16:21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
21 When a woman is in labor, she has pain because her hour has come. But when her child is born, she no longer remembers the anguish because of the joy of having brought a human being into the world.(A)
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Psalm 113:9
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
9 He gives the barren woman a home,
making her the joyous mother of children.
Praise the Lord!(A)
Jeremiah 30:6-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
7 Alas! that day is so great
there is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob,
yet he shall be rescued from it.(B)
Isaiah 13:8
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
8 and they will be terrified.
Pangs and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.
They will look aghast at one another;
their faces will be aflame.(A)
1 Thessalonians 5:3
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
3 When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!(A)
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Hosea 13:13-14
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13 The pangs of childbirth come for him,
but he is an unwise son,
for at the proper time he does not present himself
at the mouth of the womb.(A)
14 Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from Death?
O Death, where are[a] your plagues?
O Sheol, where is[b] your destruction?
Compassion is hidden from my eyes.(B)
Isaiah 26:16-18
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
Footnotes
- 26.16 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Revelation 12:2-5
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
2 She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth.(A) 3 Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his heads.(B) 4 His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to deliver a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born.(C) 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule[a] all the nations with a scepter of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne,(D)
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- 12.5 Or to shepherd
Micah 4:10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
10 Writhe and groan,[a] O daughter Zion,
like a woman in labor,
for now you shall go forth from the city
and camp in the open country;
you shall go to Babylon.
There you shall be rescued;
there the Lord will redeem you
from the hands of your enemies.(A)
Footnotes
- 4.10 Meaning of Heb uncertain
Galatians 4:27
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
27 For it is written,
“Rejoice, you childless one, you who bear no children,
burst into song and shout, you who endure no birth pangs,
for the children of the desolate woman are more numerous
than the children of the one who is married.”(A)
Luke 1:57-58
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Birth of John the Baptist
57 Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.(A)
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1 Samuel 1:26-27
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26 And she said, “Oh, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who was standing here in your presence praying to the Lord.(A) 27 For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him.(B)
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Genesis 30:23-24
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23 She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach,”(A) 24 and she named him Joseph,[a] saying, “May the Lord add to me another son!”(B)
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- 30.24 That is, he adds
Genesis 21:6-7
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
6 Now Sarah said, “God has brought laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh with me.”(A) 7 And she said, “Who would ever have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
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Genesis 3:16
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
16 To the woman he said,
“I will make your pangs in childbirth exceedingly great;
in pain you shall bring forth children,
yet your desire shall be for your husband,
and he shall rule over you.”(A)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.