15 Thou hast increased the nation, O Lord, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth.

16 Lord, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

17 Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O Lord.

18 We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

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15 You have enlarged the nation, Lord;
    you have enlarged the nation.(A)
You have gained glory for yourself;
    you have extended all the borders(B) of the land.

16 Lord, they came to you in their distress;(C)
    when you disciplined(D) them,
    they could barely whisper(E) a prayer.[a]
17 As a pregnant woman about to give birth(F)
    writhes and cries out in her pain,
    so were we in your presence, Lord.
18 We were with child, we writhed in labor,
    but we gave birth(G) to wind.
We have not brought salvation(H) to the earth,
    and the people of the world have not come to life.(I)

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 26:16 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.