16O LORD, they sought You in distress;
         They could only whisper a prayer,
         Your chastening was upon them.

17As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,
         She writhes and cries out in her labor pains,
         Thus were we before You, O LORD.

18We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,
         We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
         We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,
         Nor were inhabitants of the world born.

19Your dead will live;
         Their corpses will rise.
         You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
         For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
         And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

20Come, my people, enter into your rooms
         And close your doors behind you;
         Hide for a little while
         Until indignation runs its course.

21For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place
         To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
         And the earth will reveal her bloodshed
         And will no longer cover her slain.

NASB ©1995