Give them, O Lord— what will you give? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.
For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’
I think that, in view of the impending crisis, it is good for you to remain as you are.
Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people;
Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days!
Ephraim is stricken, their root is dried up, they shall bear no fruit. Even though they give birth, I will kill the cherished offspring of their womb.
Once I saw Ephraim as a young palm planted in a lovely meadow, but now Ephraim must lead out his children for slaughter.
Ephraim’s glory shall fly away like a bird— no birth, no pregnancy, no conception!
Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and never miscarries.
No one shall miscarry or be barren in your land; I will fulfill the number of your days.
“Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock.