1. The Lord, the God of Israel,
2. said to me: “Write down in a book everything that I have told you,
3. because the time is coming when I will restore my people, Israel and Judah. I will bring them back to the land that I gave their ancestors, and they will take possession of it again. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
4. The Lord says to the people of Israel and Judah:
5. “I heard a cry of terror,a cry of fear and not of peace.
6. Now stop and think!Can a man give birth to a child?Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomachlike a woman in labour?Why is everyone so pale?
7. A terrible day is coming;no other day can compare with it —a time of distress for my people,but they will survive.”