⁶ Trembling seized them there,
agony like that of a woman in labor,^(A)

⁸ They will be horrified;
pain and agony will seize them;
they will be in anguish like a woman in labor.^(A)
They will look at each other,
their faces flushed with fear.

³ Therefore I am^[a] filled with anguish.
Pain grips me, like the pain of a woman in labor.^(A)
I am too perplexed to hear,
too dismayed to see.

³¹ I hear a cry like a woman in labor,^(A)
a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child.
The cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath,
stretching out her hands:^(B)
“Woe is me, for my life is weary
because of the murderers!”

²¹ What will you say when he appoints
close friends as leaders over you,
ones you yourself trained?
Won’t labor pains seize you,^(A)
as they do a woman in labor?

²³ You residents of Lebanon,
nestled among the cedars,
how you will groan^[a] when pains come on you,
agony like a woman in labor.^(A)

⁶ Ask and see
whether a male can give birth.
Why then do I see every man
with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor
and every face turned pale?^(A)

⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard about them;
his hands have become weak.
Distress has seized him—
pain, like a woman in labor.^(A)