Verse 9

Jerusalem, 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?

Referenced Verses

  • Jer 8:19 : 19 I hear my dear people crying out throughout the length and breadth of the land. They are crying,‘Is the LORD no longer in Zion? Is her divine King no longer there?’” The LORD answers,“Why then do they provoke me to anger with their images, with their worthless foreign idols?”
  • 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 21:3 : 3 For 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.
  • Isa 26:17 : 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.
  • Jer 4:21 : 21 “How long must I see the enemy’s battle flags and hear the military signals of their bugles?”
  • Isa 3:1-7 : 1 A Coming Leadership Crisis Look, the Sovereign LORD of Heaven’s Armies is about to remove from Jerusalem and Judah every source of security, including all the food and water, 2 the mighty men and warriors, judges and prophets, omen readers and leaders, 3 captains of groups of fifty, the respected citizens, advisers and those skilled in magical arts, and those who know incantations. 4 The LORD says,“I will make youths their officials; malicious young men will rule over them. 5 The people will treat each other harshly; men will oppose each other; neighbors will fight. Youths will proudly defy the elderly and riffraff will challenge those who were once respected. 6 Indeed, a man will grab his brother right in his father’s house and say,‘You own a coat– you be our leader! This heap of ruins will be under your control.’ 7 At that time the brother will shout,‘I am no doctor, I have no food or coat in my house; don’t make me a leader of the people!’”
  • Jer 22:23 : 23 You 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.
  • 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.
  • Jer 50:43 : 43 The king of Babylon will become paralyzed with fear when he hears news of their coming. Anguish will grip him, agony like that of a woman giving birth to a baby.
  • Lam 4:20 : 20 ר(Resh) Our very life breath– the LORD’s anointed king– was caught in their traps, of whom we thought,“Under his protection we will survive among the nations.”
  • Hos 3:4 : 4 For the Israelites must live many days without a king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred fertility pillar, without ephod or idols.
  • Hos 10:3 : 3 The Lord Will Punish Israel by Removing Its Kings Very soon they will say,“We have no king since we did not fear the LORD. But what can a king do for us anyway?”
  • Hos 13:10-11 : 10 Where then is your king, that he may save you in all your cities? Where are your rulers for whom you asked, saying,“Give me a king and princes”? 11 I granted you a king in my anger, and I will take him away in my wrath!