The Sovereign LORD will destroy death forever! He will wipe away the tears from everyone's eyes and take away the disgrace his people have suffered throughout the world. The LORD himself has spoken.

LORD, have mercy on us. We have put our hope in you. Protect us day by day and save us in times of trouble.

This is the message which he told them to give Isaiah: "Today is a day of suffering; we are being punished and are in disgrace. We are like a woman who is ready to give birth, but is too weak to do it.

But when trouble came, they turned to the LORD, the God of Israel. They searched for him and found him.

Call to me when trouble comes; I will save you, and you will praise me."

When they call to me, I will answer them; when they are in trouble, I will be with them. I will rescue them and honor them.

The danger of death was all around me; the horrors of the grave closed in on me; I was filled with fear and anxiety.

Then I called to the LORD, "I beg you, LORD, save me!"

A terrible day is coming; no other day can compare with it--- a time of distress for my people, but they will survive."

"I will abandon my people until they have suffered enough for their sins and come looking for me. Perhaps in their suffering they will try to find me."

The people say, "Let's return to the LORD! He has hurt us, but he will be sure to heal us; he has wounded us, but he will bandage our wounds, won't he?

I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn from your sins.

"Don't be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah, as they were that day in the desert at Massah.

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

We were in pain and agony, but we gave birth to nothing. We have won no victory for our land; we have accomplished nothing.

Do not think that I will bring my people to the point of birth and not let them be born." The LORD has spoken.

Israel has a chance to live, but is too foolish to take it---like a child about to be born, who refuses to come out of the womb.