On that day messengers will go out from me in ships to frighten overly confident Ethiopia; panic will overtake them on the day of Egypt’s doom; ¹  for beware – it is coming!

That day will be a day of God’s anger, ¹  a day of distress and hardship, a day of devastation and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and dark skies,

For out of great distress and anguish of heart I wrote to you with many tears, not to make you sad, but to let you know the love that I have especially for you. ¹ 

She was very upset ¹  as she prayed to the Lord, and she was weeping uncontrollably. ² 

Look at them shake uncontrollably, ¹  like a woman writhing in childbirth. ² 

He has besieged ¹  and surrounded ²  me with bitter hardship. ³ 

¹ Moses told this ²  to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him ³  because of their discouragement ⁴  and hard labor.

He said to me, ‘Stand over me and finish me off! ¹  I’m very dizzy, ²  even though I’m still alive.’ ³ 

The ropes of death tightened around me, ¹  the snares ²  of Sheol confronted me. I was confronted ³  with trouble and sorrow.

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 

In fact, ¹  I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby. It is the cry of Daughter Zion ²  gasping for breath, reaching out for help, ³  saying, “I am done in! ⁴  My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”

They said to one other, ¹  “Surely we’re being punished ²  because of our brother, because we saw how distressed he was ³  when he cried to us for mercy, but we refused to listen. That is why this distress ⁴  has come on us!”

I am numb with pain and severely battered; ¹  I groan loudly because of the anxiety I feel. ² 

The people of the earth will quake when they hear of their downfall. ¹  Their cries of anguish will be heard all the way to the Gulf of Aqaba. ² 

He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and became anguished and distressed.

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.

Having suffered, he will reflect on his work, he will be satisfied when he understands what he has done. ¹  “My servant ²  will acquit many, ³  for he carried their sins. ⁴ 

As he approached the den, he called out to Daniel in a worried voice, ¹  “Daniel, servant of the living God, was your God whom you continually serve able to rescue you from the lions?”

All ¹  these things are the beginning of birth pains.

So ¹  he called out, ²  ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus ³  to dip the tip of his finger ⁴  in water and cool my tongue, because I am in anguish ⁵  in this fire.’ ⁶