For these are rebellious people – they are lying children, children unwilling to obey the Lord’s law. ¹ 

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.

Their arrows will cut young men to ribbons; ¹  they have no compassion on a person’s offspring, ²  they will not ³  look with pity on children.

He said, “Certainly they will be my people, children who are not disloyal.” ¹  He became their deliverer.

Listen, O heavens, pay attention, O earth! ¹  For the Lord speaks: “I raised children, ²  I brought them up, ³  but ⁴  they have rebelled ⁵  against me!

“The rebellious ¹  children are as good as dead,” ²  says the Lord, “those who make plans without consulting me, ³  who form alliances without consulting my Spirit, ⁴  and thereby compound their sin. ⁵ 

¹ The sinful nation is as good as dead, ²  the people weighed down by evil deeds. They are offspring who do wrong, children ³  who do wicked things. They have abandoned the Lord, and rejected the Holy One of Israel. ⁴  They are alienated from him. ⁵ 

“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