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

⁸ Terror^(A) will seize them,
    pain and anguish will grip^(B) them;
    they will writhe like a woman in labor.^(C)
They will look aghast at each other,
    their faces aflame.^(D)

³ 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.

¹⁴ “For a long time I have kept silent,^(A)
    I have been quiet and held myself back.^(B)
But now, like a woman in childbirth,
    I cry out, I gasp and pant.^(C)

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)

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)

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!

⁶ 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)

⁴³ The king of Babylon has heard reports about them,
    and his hands hang limp.^(A)
Anguish has gripped him,
    pain like that of a woman in labor.^(B)