Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of my people because of them that dwell in a far country: {Is} not the LORD in Zion? {is} not her king in her? Why have they provoked me to anger with their graven images, {and} with strange vanities? {them...: Heb. the country of them that are far off}

The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen.

For, behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water,

For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?

The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, and his hands waxed feeble: anguish took hold of him, {and} pangs as of a woman in travail.

O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail! {inhabitant: Heb. inhabitress}

And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces {shall be as} flames. {be amazed: Heb. wonder} {one...: Heb. every man at his neighbour} {flames: Heb. faces of the flames}

Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing {of it}; I was dismayed at the seeing {of it}.

I will be thy king: where {is any other} that may save thee in all thy cities? and thy judges of whom thou saidst, Give me a king and princes? {I will...: rather, Where is thy king?}

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.

Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? {a man: Heb. a male}

For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and {without} teraphim: {image: Heb. a standing, or, statue, or, pillar}

How long shall I see the standard, {and} hear the sound of the trumpet?

Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire {shall be} to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. {to thy...: or, subject to thy husband}

For the people shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry; when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.

The sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him: he {is} an unwise son; for he should not stay long in {the place of} the breaking forth of children. {long: Heb. a time}

For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

Therefore will he give them up, until the time {that} she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel.

Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, and the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. {Kerioth: or, The cities}

For now they shall say, We have no king, because we feared not the LORD; what then should a king do to us?

Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing {of it}; I was dismayed at the seeing {of it}.

Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? {a man: Heb. a male}

We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, {and} pain, as of a woman in travail.

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these {are} the beginnings of sorrows. {sorrows: the word in the original importeth "the pains of a woman in travail"}