<p class="poetry">But it is said of Zion&#8217;s residents,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">&#8220;Each one of these<n id="2" /> was born in her,p> <p class="poetry">and the sovereign One<n id="3" /> makes her secure.&#8221;<n id="4" />p>

<p class="poetry">Even before the mountains came into existence,<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">or you brought the world into being,<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">you were the eternal God.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">Listen to your father who begot you,p> <p class="poetry">and do not despise your mother when she is old.p>

<p class="poetry">The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">whoever fathers a wise child<n id="2" /> will have joy in him.p>

<p class="poetry">Do not boast<n id="1" /> about tomorrow;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">for you do not know<n id="3" /> what a day may bring forth.p>

<p class="poetry">A time to be born,<n id="1" /> and a time to die;<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">a time to plant, and a time to uproot what was planted;p>

<p class="poetry">For he came out of prison<n id="1" /> to become king,p> <p class="poetry">even though he had been born poor in what would become his<n id="2" /> kingdom.p>

<p class="poetry">Then that wealth was lost through bad luck;<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">although he fathered a son, he has nothing left to give him.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliverp> <p class="poetry">and strains and cries out because of her labor pains,p> <p class="poetry">so were we because of you, O <sc>Lordsc>.p>

&#8216;Some of your very own descendants whom you father<n id="1" /> will be taken away and will be made eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.&#8217;&#8221;

<p class="poetry">&#8220;I have been inactive<n id="1" /> for a long time;p> <p class="poetry">I kept quiet and held back.p> <p class="poetry">Like a woman in labor I groan;p> <p class="poetry">I pant and gasp.<n id="2" />p>

<p class="poetry">There was no one to lead herp> <p class="poetry">among all the children she bore;p> <p class="poetry">there was no one to take her by the handp> <p class="poetry">among all the children she raised.p>

<p class="poetry">Before she goes into labor, she gives birth!p> <p class="poetry">Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!p>

<p class="poetry">The people cry out,<n id="1" /> &#8220;We have heard reports about them!p> <p class="poetry">We have become helpless with fear!<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Anguish grips us,p> <p class="poetry">agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!p>

<p class="poetry">Even the doe abandons her newborn fawn<n id="1" /> in the fieldp> <p class="poetry">because there is no grass.p>

<p class="poetry">You may feel as secure as a birdp> <p class="poetry">nesting in the cedars of Lebanon.p> <p class="poetry">But oh how you<n id="1" /> will groan<n id="2" /> when the pains of judgment come on you.p> <p class="poetry">They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="poetry">The people of Damascus will lose heart and turn to flee.p> <p class="poetry">Panic will grip them.p> <p class="poetry">Pain and anguish will seize themp> <p class="poetry">like a woman in labor.p>

<p class="poetry">But Babylonia will be put to great shame.p> <p class="poetry">The land where you were born<n id="1" /> will be disgraced.p> <p class="poetry">Indeed,<n id="2" /> Babylonia will become the least important of all nations.p> <p class="poetry">It will become a dry and barren desert.p>

<p class="poetry">The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear<n id="1" />p> <p class="poetry">when he hears news of their coming.<n id="2" />p> <p class="poetry">Anguish will grip him,p> <p class="poetry">agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.<n id="3" />p>

<p class="bodytext">&#8220;Suppose such a man has<n id="1" /> a violent son who sheds blood and does any of these things<n id="2" /> mentioned previously