so that his life loathes food, and his soul rejects appetizing fare.

If you strike him with the rod, you will deliver him from death.

Only his flesh has pain for himself, and he mourns for himself.”

But he is unchangeable, and who can change him? Whatever he has desired, he does.

“So now, when I return to your servant my father, and the boy is not with us – his very life is bound up in his son’s life.

All of the thriving people of the earth will join the celebration and worship; all those who are descending into the grave will bow before him, including those who cannot preserve their lives.

Even if a man fathers a hundred children and lives many years – even if he lives a long, long time, but cannot enjoy his prosperity – even if he were to live forever – I would say, “A stillborn child is better off than he is!”

It will be like a hungry man dreaming that he is eating, only to awaken and find that his stomach is empty. It will be like a thirsty man dreaming that he is drinking, only to awaken and find that he is still weak and his thirst unquenched. So it will be for the horde from all the nations that fight against Mount Zion.