Some of the prophets ¹  said to Elisha, “Look, the place where we meet with you ²  is too cramped ³  for us.

Yet the children born during your time of bereavement will say within your hearing, ‘This place is too cramped for us, ¹  make room for us so we can live here.’ ² 

his food is turned sour ¹  in his stomach; ²  it becomes the venom of serpents ³  within him.

In the fullness of his sufficiency, ¹  distress ²  overtakes him. the full force of misery will come upon him. ³ 

And surely, he drew you ¹  from the mouth of distress, to a wide place, unrestricted, ²  and to the comfort ³  of your table filled with rich food. ⁴ 

They panic – cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red. ¹ 

Yes, your land lies in ruins; it is desolate and devastated. ¹  But now you will be too small to hold your residents, and those who devoured you will be far away.

We are experiencing trouble on every side, ¹  but are not crushed; we are perplexed, ²  but not driven to despair;

Therefore we are always full of courage, and we know that as long as we are alive here on earth ¹  we are absent from the Lord –

For this reason my stomach churns; ¹  cramps overwhelm me like the contractions of a woman in labor. I am disturbed ²  by what I hear, horrified by what I see.

I said, ¹  “Oh, the feeling in the pit of my stomach! ²  I writhe in anguish. Oh, the pain in my heart! ³  My heart pounds within me. I cannot keep silent. For I hear the sound of the trumpet; ⁴  the sound of the battle cry pierces my soul! ⁵