The ropes of Sheol ¹  tightened around me; ²  the snares of death trapped me. ³ 

The ropes of Sheol tightened around me, ¹  the snares of death trapped me. ² 

I was stone silent; ¹  I held back the urge to speak. ²  My frustration grew; ³ 

I am oppressed and suffering! O God, deliver and protect me! ¹ 

I collapse ¹  from grief. Sustain me by your word! ² 

Surely, he ate in darkness every day of his life, ¹  and he suffered greatly with sickness and anger.

They ¹  became greatly distressed ²  and each one began to say to him, “Surely not I, Lord?”

He was despised and rejected by people, ¹  one who experienced pain and was acquainted with illness; people hid their faces from him; ²  he was despised, and we considered him insignificant. ³ 

All ¹  these things are the beginning of birth pains.

As much as ¹  she exalted herself and lived in sensual luxury, ²  to this extent give her torment and grief because she said to herself, ³  ‘I rule as queen and am no widow; I will never experience grief!’

Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! ¹  But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; ²  you will wail because your spirits will be crushed. ³ 

The people of Damascus will lose heart and turn to flee. Panic will grip them. Pain and anguish will seize them like a woman in labor.

Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.”

But Jacob ¹  replied, “My son will not go down there with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left. ²  If an accident happens to him on the journey you have to make, then you will bring down my gray hair ³  in sorrow to the grave.” ⁴ 

When they came to the threshing floor of Atad ¹  on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. ²  There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father.

The Lord said, “I have surely seen ¹  the affliction of my people who are in Egypt. I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. ² 

For my life nears its end in pain; my years draw to a close as I groan. ¹  My strength fails me because of ²  my sin, and my bones become brittle. ³ 

For all day long ¹  his work produces pain and frustration, ²  and even at night his mind cannot relax! ³  This also is futile!

Banish ¹  emotional stress ²  from your mind. ³  and put away pain ⁴  from your body; ⁵  for youth ⁶  and the prime of life ⁷  are fleeting. ⁸ 

When the Lord gives you relief from your suffering and anxiety, ¹  and from the hard labor which you were made to perform,