Isaiah 13:8 “Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a wom…”

Isaiah 13:8

Terror, pain, and anguish will seize them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look at one another, their faces flushed with fear.

Berean Standard Bible

Other translations

King James Version

And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.

World English Bible

They will be dismayed. Pangs and sorrows will seize them. They will be in pain like a woman in labor. They will look in amazement one at another. Their faces will be faces of flame.

American Standard Version

and they shall be dismayed; pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail: they shall look in amazement one at another; their faces shall be faces of flame.

Geneva Bible 1599

And they shalbe afraid: anguish and sorowe shall take them, and they shall haue paine, as a woman that trauaileth: euery one shall be amased at his neighbour, and their faces shalbe like flames of fire.

Darby Translation

and they shall be terrified: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them, they shall writhe as a woman that travaileth; they shall be amazed one at another, their faces shall be as flames.

Young's Literal Translation

And they have been troubled, Pains and pangs they take, As a travailing woman they are pained, A man at his friend they marvel, The appearance of flames — their faces!

Bible in Basic English

Their hearts will be full of fear; pains and sorrows will overcome them; they will be in pain like a woman in childbirth; they will be shocked at one another; their faces will be like flames.

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Cross references

“pangs”

Isaiah 26:17 1 Thessalonians 5:3 Jeremiah 30:6 Jeremiah 50:43 Isaiah 21:3 Isaiah 21:4

Isaiah 26:17 · BSB

As a woman with child about to give birth writhes and cries out in pain, so were we in Your presence, O LORD.

1 Thessalonians 5:3 · BSB

While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

Jeremiah 30:6 · BSB

Ask now, and see: Can a male give birth? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor and every face turned pale?

Jeremiah 50:43 · BSB

The king of Babylon has heard the report, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.

Isaiah 21:3 · BSB

Therefore my body is filled with anguish. Pain grips me, like the pains of a woman in labor. I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see.

Isaiah 21:4 · BSB

My heart falters; fear makes me tremble. The twilight I desired has turned to horror.

“be amazed one at another”

Nahum 2:10 Joel 2:6

Nahum 2:10 · BSB

She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!

Joel 2:6 · BSB

Nations writhe in horror before them; every face turns pale.

Also

John 16:21 Jeremiah 4:31

John 16:21 · BSB

A woman has pain in childbirth because her time has come; but when she brings forth her child, she forgets her anguish because of her joy that a child has been born into the world.

Jeremiah 4:31 · BSB

For I hear a cry like a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like one bearing her first child— the cry of the Daughter of Zion gasping for breath, stretching out her hands to say, “Woe is me, for my soul faints before the mu…

Cross references adapted from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0) and the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.

In context

7Therefore all hands will fall limp, and every man’s heart will melt.

9Behold, the Day of the LORD is coming— cruel, with fury and burning anger— to make the earth a desolation and to destroy the sinners within it.

Read Isaiah 13