John 16:21

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

When a woman gives birth, she has distress because her time has come, but when her child is born, she no longer remembers the suffering because of her joy that a human being has been born into the world.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Jer 30:6-7 : 6 Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby? Why then do I see all these strong men grabbing their stomachs in pain like a woman giving birth? And why do their faces turn so deathly pale? 7 Alas, what a terrible time of trouble it is! There has never been any like it. It is a time of trouble for the descendants of Jacob, but some of them will be rescued out of it.
  • 1 Thess 5:3 : 3 Now when they are saying,“There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.
  • Rev 12:2-5 : 2 She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon that had seven heads and ten horns, and on its heads were seven diadem crowns. 4 Now the dragon’s tail swept away a third of the stars in heaven and hurled them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne,
  • Hos 13:13-14 : 13 The labor pains of a woman will overtake him, but the baby will lack wisdom; when the time arrives, he will not come out of the womb! 14 The Lord Will Not Relent from the Threatened Judgment Will I deliver them from the power of Sheol? No, I will not! Will I redeem them from death? No, I will not! O Death, bring on your plagues! O Sheol, bring on your destruction! My eyes will not show any compassion!
  • Mic 4:10 : 10 Twist and strain, Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor! For you will leave the city and live in the open field. You will go to Babylon, but there you will be rescued. There the LORD will deliver you from the power of your enemies.
  • Luke 1:57-58 : 57 The Birth of John Now the time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son. 58 Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her.
  • Gal 4:27 : 27 For it is written:“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains, because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.”
  • Gen 3:16 : 16 To the woman he said,“I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you.”
  • Gen 21:6-7 : 6 Sarah said,“God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” 7 She went on to say,“Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”
  • Gen 30:23-24 : 23 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Then she said,“God has taken away my shame.” 24 She named him Joseph, saying,“May the LORD give me yet another son.”
  • 1 Sam 1:26-27 : 26 She said,“My lord. Just as surely as you are alive, my lord, I am the woman who previously stood here with you in order to pray to the LORD. 27 For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me the request that I asked of him.
  • Ps 113:9 : 9 He makes the barren woman of the family a happy mother of children. Praise the LORD!
  • Isa 13:8 : 8 They panic– cramps and pain seize hold of them like those of a woman who is straining to give birth. They look at one another in astonishment; their faces are flushed red.
  • Isa 26:16-18 : 16 O LORD, in distress they looked for you; they uttered incantations because of your discipline. 17 As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so were we because of you, O LORD. 18 We were pregnant, we strained, we gave birth, as it were, to wind. We cannot produce deliverance on the earth; people to populate the world are not born.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • John 16:20
    83%

    20I tell you the solemn truth, you will weep and wail, but the world will rejoice; you will be sad, but your sadness will turn into joy.

  • John 16:22
    80%

    22So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

  • Isa 66:7-10
    4 verses
    78%

    7Before she goes into labor, she gives birth! Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!

    8Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen this? Can a country be brought forth in one day? Can a nation be born in a single moment? Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!

    9“Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?” asks the LORD.“Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?” asks your God.

    10Be happy for Jerusalem and rejoice with her, all you who love her! Share in her great joy, all you who have mourned over her!

  • Rev 12:2
    75%

    2She was pregnant and was screaming in labor pains, struggling to give birth.

  • Isa 26:17-18
    2 verses
    74%

    17As when a pregnant woman gets ready to deliver and strains and cries out because of her labor pains, so were we because of you, O LORD.

    18We were pregnant, we strained, we gave birth, as it were, to wind. We cannot produce deliverance on the earth; people to populate the world are not born.

  • Hos 13:13
    73%

    13The labor pains of a woman will overtake him, but the baby will lack wisdom; when the time arrives, he will not come out of the womb!

  • Gal 4:27
    73%

    27For it is written:“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children; break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains, because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous than those of the woman who has a husband.”

  • Luke 1:14
    71%

    14Joy and gladness will come to you, and many will rejoice at his birth,

  • Mic 4:9-10
    2 verses
    71%

    9Jerusalem, why are you now shouting so loudly? Has your king disappeared? Has your wise leader been destroyed? Is this why pain grips you as if you were a woman in labor?

    10Twist and strain, Daughter Zion, as if you were in labor! For you will leave the city and live in the open field. You will go to Babylon, but there you will be rescued. There the LORD will deliver you from the power of your enemies.

  • Gen 3:16
    70%

    16To the woman he said,“I will greatly increase your labor pains; with pain you will give birth to children. You will want to control your husband, but he will dominate you.”

  • Luke 21:23
    70%

    23Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people.

  • Jer 30:6
    70%

    6Ask yourselves this and consider it carefully: Have you ever seen a man give birth to a baby? Why then do I see all these strong men grabbing their stomachs in pain like a woman giving birth? And why do their faces turn so deathly pale?

  • Matt 24:19
    69%

    19Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days!

  • Job 14:1
    69%

    1The Brevity of Life“Man, born of woman, lives but a few days, and they are full of trouble.

  • Jer 4:31
    69%

    31In fact, I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby. It is the cry of Daughter Zion gasping for breath, reaching out for help, saying,“I am done in! My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”

  • Ps 48:6
    69%

    6Look at them shake uncontrollably, like a woman writhing in childbirth.

  • Mark 13:17
    69%

    17Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing their babies in those days!

  • Isa 21:3
    69%

    3For this reason my stomach churns; cramps overwhelm me like the contractions of a woman in labor. I am disturbed by what I hear, horrified by what I see.

  • Luke 1:57
    69%

    57The Birth of John Now the time came for Elizabeth to have her baby, and she gave birth to a son.

  • Jer 13:21
    69%

    21What will you say when the LORD appoints as rulers over you those allies that you, yourself, had actually prepared as such? Then anguish and agony will grip you like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.

  • Luke 23:28-29
    2 verses
    68%

    28But Jesus turned to them and said,“Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

    29For this is certain: The days are coming when they will say,‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore children, and the breasts that never nursed!’

  • Prov 23:25
    68%

    25May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice.

  • Rom 8:22
    68%

    22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now.

  • Job 39:16
    68%

    16She is harsh with her young, as if they were not hers; she is unconcerned about the uselessness of her labor.

  • Gen 35:17
    68%

    17When her labor was at its hardest, the midwife said to her,“Don’t be afraid, for you are having another son.”

  • 1 Thess 5:3
    68%

    3Now when they are saying,“There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction comes on them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will surely not escape.

  • Job 39:3
    67%

    3They crouch, they bear their young, they bring forth the offspring they have carried.

  • Jer 20:15
    67%

    15Cursed be the man who made my father very glad when he brought him the news that a baby boy had been born to him!

  • Jer 6:24
    67%

    24The people cry out,“We have heard reports about them! We have become helpless with fear! Anguish grips us, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby!

  • Ps 126:5
    67%

    5Those who shed tears as they plant will shout for joy when they reap the harvest.

  • Gal 4:19
    67%

    19My children– I am again undergoing birth pains until Christ is formed in you!

  • Jer 22:23
    67%

    23You may feel as secure as a bird nesting in the cedars of Lebanon. But oh how you will groan when the pains of judgment come on you. They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby.

  • Luke 11:27
    67%

    27As he said these things, a woman in the crowd spoke out to him,“Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts at which you nursed!”

  • Luke 1:44
    67%

    44For the instant the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

  • Jer 20:18
    66%

    18Why did I ever come forth from my mother’s womb? All I experience is trouble and grief, and I spend my days in shame.

  • Rev 12:5
    66%

    5So the woman gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to rule over all the nations with an iron rod. Her child was suddenly caught up to God and to his throne,

  • Isa 54:1
    66%

    1Zion Will Be Secure“Shout for joy, O barren one who has not given birth! Give a joyful shout and cry out, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one are more numerous than the children of the married woman,” says the LORD.

  • Job 3:3
    66%

    3“Let the day on which I was born perish, and the night that said,‘A man has been conceived!’

  • Mic 5:3
    66%

    3So the LORD will hand the people of Israel over to their enemies until the time when the woman in labor gives birth. Then the rest of the king’s countrymen will return to be reunited with the people of Israel.

  • John 16:16
    66%

    16In a little while you will see me no longer; again after a little while, you will see me.”

  • Luke 2:6
    66%

    6While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.

  • Deut 28:56
    66%

    56Likewise, the most tender and delicate of your women, who would never think of putting even the sole of her foot on the ground because of her daintiness, will turn against her beloved husband, her sons and daughters,