16O LORD, they sought You in their distress;
when You disciplined them, they poured out a quiet prayer.
17As a woman with child about to give birth
writhes and cries out in pain,
so were we in Your presence, O LORD.
18We were with child; we writhed in pain;
but we gave birth to wind.
We have given no salvation to the earth,
nor brought any life into the world.
— Isaiah 26:16-18