Jeremiah 4:31

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!”

Ge 27:46; Job 10:1; Ps 120:5; Isa 1:15; Isa 6:5; Isa 13:8; Isa 21:3; Jer 6:2,23; Jer 6:24; Jer 10:19; Jer 13:21; Jer 14:18; Jer 15:18; Jer 18:21; Jer 22:23; Jer 30:6; Jer 45:2; Jer 48:41; Jer 49:22,24; Jer 50:43; La 1:17; La 1:20; La 2:21; Eze 9:5,6; Eze 23:46,47; Ho 13:13; Mic 7:1; Mt 21:5; 1Co 9:16; 1Th 5:3

¹ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is more likely asseverative here than causal.

² sn Jerusalem is personified as a helpless maiden.

³ tn Heb “spreading out her hands.” The idea of asking or pleading for help is implicit in the figure.

⁴ tn Heb “Woe, now to me!” See the translator’s note on 4:13 for the usage of “Woe to…”