Give them, Lord— what will you give them? Give them wombs that miscarry and breasts that are dry.
Their bulls never fail to breed; their cows calve and do not miscarry.
and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.
Ephraim’s glory will fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception.
I have seen Ephraim, like Tyre, planted in a pleasant place. But Ephraim will bring out their children to the slayer.”
Ephraim is blighted, their root is withered, they yield no fruit. Even if they bear children, I will slay their cherished offspring.”
How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers!
How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people.
For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’
Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for a man to remain as he is.
The fruit of your womb will be cursed, and the crops of your land, and the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks.