They [of Babylon] will be shocked and terrified,
Pains and anguish will grip them;
They will be in pain like a woman in childbirth.
They will stare aghast and horrified at one another,
Their faces aflame [from the effects of the unprecedented warfare].

And it will be in the day when the Lord gives you rest from your pain and turmoil and from the harsh service in which you have been enslaved,

In the day that you plant it you carefully fence it in,
And in the morning you bring your seed to blossom;
Yet [promising as it is] the harvest will be a heap [of ruins that passes away]
In the day of sickness and incurable pain.

As a woman with child approaches the time to give birth,
She is in pain and struggles and cries out in her labor,
So we were before You, O Lord.

We have been with child, we have twisted and struggled in labor;
We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish salvation for the earth,
Nor were inhabitants of the world born.

“Indeed, My servants will shout for joy from a happy heart,
But you will cry out with a heavy heart,
And you shall wail and howl from a broken spirit.

“Before she (Zion) was in labor, she gave birth;
Before her labor pain came, she gave birth to a boy.