to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
Parallel translations
- WEB They said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah, ‘Today is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of rejection; for the children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to give birth.
- KJV And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
- NKJV And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth.
- NASB And they said to him, “This is what Hezekiah says: ‘This day is a day of distress, rebuke, and humiliation; for children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to deliver them.
- NLT They told him, “This is what King Hezekiah says: Today is a day of trouble, insults, and disgrace. It is like when a child is ready to be born, but the mother has no strength to deliver the baby.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Hezekiah's officials bring word that Judah faces a crisis as dire as a labor that has no strength to deliver. It shows a king who, in distress, turns to God's prophet rather than to his own resources.
Overview
With Assyria threatening Jerusalem, Hezekiah sends his servants to Isaiah confessing utter helplessness. The vivid image of children come to birth with no strength to deliver portrays a nation at the brink, unable to save itself. This honesty about weakness sets the stage for God to act, illustrating the gospel pattern that God's deliverance meets human need precisely where human strength fails.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 66:9Shall I bring a baby to the point of birth and not deliver it?” says the LORD. “Or will I who deliver close the womb?” says your God.
- Hos 13:13Labor pains come upon him, but he is an unwise son. When the time arrives, he fails to present himself at the opening of the womb.
- Isa 26:17–18As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.
- Ps 50:15Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.”
- 2 Kgs 19:3to tell him, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
- Isa 33:2O LORD, be gracious to us! We wait for You. Be our strength every morning and our salvation in time of trouble.
- 2 Chr 15:4But in their distress they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel, and sought Him, and He was found by them.
- Ps 91:15When he calls out to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him.
- Ps 95:8do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, in the day at Massah in the wilderness,
- Rev 3:19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
- Hos 5:15Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and seek My face; in their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
- Isa 22:5For the Lord GOD of Hosts has set a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the Valley of Vision—of breaking down the walls and crying to the mountains.
- Ps 116:3–4The ropes of death entangled me; the anguish of Sheol overcame me; I was confronted by trouble and sorrow.
- Jer 30:7How awful that day will be! None will be like it! It is the time of Jacob’s distress, but he will be saved out of it.
- Isa 25:8He will swallow up death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove the disgrace of His people from the whole earth. For the LORD has spoken.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 37:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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