“I have been silent a long time. I have been quiet and restrained myself. Now I will cry out like a travailing woman. I will both gasp and pant.
Parallel translations
- KJV I have long time holden my peace; I have been still, and refrained myself: now will I cry like a travailing woman; I will destroy and devour at once.
- BSB “I have kept silent from ages past; I have remained quiet and restrained. But now I will groan like a woman in labor; I will at once gasp and pant.
- NKJV “I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once.
- NASB ¶“I have kept silent for a long time, I have kept still and restrained Myself. Now like a woman in labor I will groan, I will both gasp and pant.
- NLT He will say, “I have long been silent; yes, I have restrained myself. But now, like a woman in labor, I will cry and groan and pant.
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
After long silence, God will cry out and act decisively like a woman in labor.
Overview
God declares that His era of restraint is over; now He bursts forth with the intensity of a woman in childbirth to bring about deliverance. The vivid image conveys both effort and the imminent birth of something new. His long patience gives way to powerful, redemptive action on behalf of His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Eccl 8:11–12Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.
- Jer 44:22Thus Yahweh could no longer bear, because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations which you have committed; therefore your land has become a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without inhabitant, as it is today.
- Ps 83:1–2A song. A Psalm by Asaph. God, don’t keep silent. Don’t keep silent, and don’t be still, God.
- Luke 18:7Won’t God avenge his chosen ones, who are crying out to him day and night, and yet he exercises patience with them?
- 2 Pet 3:9–10The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but is patient with us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
- Jer 15:6You have rejected me,” says Yahweh. “You have gone backward: therefore I have stretched out my hand against you, and destroyed you; I am weary with repenting.
- 2 Pet 3:15Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you;
- Ps 50:2Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines out.
- Job 32:18For I am full of words. The spirit within me constrains me.
- Job 32:20I will speak, that I may be refreshed. I will open my lips and answer.
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Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 42:14 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.