Isaiah 26:16-18

New International Reader's Version

¹⁶ Lord, when your people were suffering, they came to you.
    When you punished them,
    they could barely whisper a prayer.
¹⁷ Lord, you made us like a woman who is about to have a baby.
    She groans and cries out in pain.
¹⁸ We were pregnant and groaned with pain.
    But nothing was born.
We didn’t bring your saving power to the earth.
    And the people of the world have not come to life.