Isaiah 37:3

37:3 “This is what Hezekiah says: ¹  ‘This is a day of distress, insults, ²  and humiliation, ³  as when a baby is ready to leave the birth canal, but the mother lacks the strength to push it through. ⁴ 

Isaiah 37:2

37:2 Eliakim the palace supervisor, Shebna the scribe, and the leading priests, ⁵  clothed in sackcloth, sent this message to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz:

Isaiah 19:3

19:3 The Egyptians will panic, ⁶ 

and I will confuse their strategy. ⁷ 

They will seek guidance from the idols and from the spirits of the dead,

from the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, and from the magicians. ⁸ 

Hosea 13:13

13:13 The labor pains of a woman will overtake him,

but the baby will lack wisdom;

when the time arrives,

he will not come out of the womb!

¹ tn In the Hebrew text this verse begins with “they said to him” (cf. NRSV).

² tn Or “rebuke” (KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV), or “correction.”

³ tn Or “contempt”; NAB, NIV, NRSV “disgrace.”

⁴ tn Heb “when sons come to the cervical opening and there is no strength to give birth.”

⁵ tn Heb “elders of the priests” (so KJV, NAB, NASB); NCV “the older priests”; NRSV, TEV, CEV “the senior priests.”

⁶ tn Heb “and the spirit of Egypt will be laid waste in its midst.”

⁷ tn The verb בָּלַע (bala’, “confuse”) is a homonym of the more common בָּלַע (bala’, “swallow”); see HALOT 135 s.v. I בלע.

⁸ tn Heb “they will inquire of the idols and of the spirits of the dead and of the ritual pits and of the magicians.” Hebrew אוֹב (’ov, “ritual pit”) refers to a pit used by a magician to conjure up underworld spirits. See the note on “incantations” in 8:19.