What I saw and heard in the vision has filled me with terror and pain, pain like that of a woman in labor.

My head is spinning, and I am trembling with fear. I had been longing for evening to come, but it has brought me nothing but terror.

You, LORD, have made us cry out, as a woman in labor cries out in pain.

But when they saw it, they were amazed; they were afraid and ran away.

There they were seized with fear and anguish, like a woman about to bear a child,

Now stop and think! Can a man give birth to a child? Why then do I see every man with his hands on his stomach like a woman in labor? Why is everyone so pale?

The king of Babylonia hears the news, and his hands hang limp. He is seized by anguish, by pain like a woman in labor.

Suddenly a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster wall of the palace, where the light from the lamps was shining most brightly. And the king saw the hand as it was writing.

He turned pale and was so frightened that his knees began to shake.

When people say, "Everything is quiet and safe," then suddenly destruction will hit them! It will come as suddenly as the pains that come upon a woman in labor, and people will not escape.

As they approach, everyone is terrified; every face turns pale.

Nineveh is destroyed, deserted, desolate! Hearts melt with fear; knees tremble, strength is gone; faces grow pale.