But it is said of Zion’s residents, ¹  “Each one of these ²  was born in her, and the sovereign One ³  makes her secure.” ⁴ 

Even before the mountains came into existence, ¹  or you brought the world into being, ²  you were the eternal God. ³ 

Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; ¹  whoever fathers a wise child ²  will have joy in him.

Do not boast ¹  about tomorrow; ²  for you do not know ³  what a day may bring forth.

A time to be born, ¹  and a time to die; ²  a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;

For he came out of prison ¹  to become king, even though he had been born poor in what would become his ²  kingdom.

Then that wealth was lost through bad luck; ¹  although he fathered a son, he has nothing left to give him. ² 

As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so were we because of you, O Lord.

‘Some of your very own descendants whom you father ¹  will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

“I have been inactive ¹  for a long time; I kept quiet and held back. Like a woman in labor I groan; I pant and gasp. ² 

There was no one to lead her among all the children she bore; there was no one to take her by the hand among all the children she raised.

Before she goes into labor, she gives birth! Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!

The people cry out, ¹  “We have heard reports about them! We have become helpless with fear! ²  Anguish grips us, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!

Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn ¹  in the field because there is no grass.

You may feel as secure as a bird nesting in the cedars of Lebanon. But oh how you ¹  will groan ²  when the pains of judgment come on you. They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby. 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.

But Babylonia will be put to great shame. The land where you were born ¹  will be disgraced. Indeed, ²  Babylonia will become the least important of all nations. It will become a dry and barren desert.

The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear ¹  when he hears news of their coming. ²  Anguish will grip him, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby. ³ 

“Suppose such a man has ¹  a violent son who sheds blood and does any of these things ²  mentioned previously