Isaiah 26:16-18

The Voice

¹⁶ When You corrected their wrongdoing, Eternal One,
    they could hardly even whisper a prayer.
Weak with distress, they looked to You for help.
¹⁷ You witnessed us twist and turn before You, O Eternal,
    like a birthing woman in agony of labor.
¹⁸ We were that woman, laboring to deliver,
    but we gave birth only to futility and emptiness.
We couldn’t deliver the earth, save it, renew it.
    We couldn’t make it teem with life.