Isaiah 26:16-18

Good News Translation

¹⁶ You punished your people, Lord,
    and in anguish they prayed to you.^[a]
17 You, Lord, have made us cry out,
    as a woman in labor cries out in pain.
¹⁸ We were in pain and agony,
    but we gave birth to nothing.
We have won no victory for our land;
    we have accomplished nothing.^[b]