New International Version
Isaiah 21:3
3At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see.
Isaiah 21:3 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Therefore are my loins filled with pain: pangs have taken hold upon me, as the pangs of a woman that travaileth: I was bowed down at the hearing of it; I was dismayed at the seeing of it.
- English Standard Version (ESV)Therefore my loins are filled with anguish; pangs have seized me, like the pangs of a woman in labor; I am bowed down so that I cannot hear; I am dismayed so that I cannot see.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore my loins are filled with pain; Pangs have taken hold of me, like the pangs of a woman in labor. I was distressed when I heard it; I was dismayed when I saw it.
- New Living Translation (NLT)My stomach aches and burns with pain. Sharp pangs of anguish are upon me, like those of a woman in labor. I grow faint when I hear what God is planning; I am too afraid to look.
Context of Isaiah 21:3
1A prophecy against the Desert by the Sea: Like whirlwinds sweeping through the southland, an invader comes from the desert, from a land of terror. 2A dire vision has been shown to me: The traitor betrays, the looter takes loot. Elam, attack! Media, lay siege! I will bring to an end all the groaning she caused. At this my body is racked with pain, pangs seize me, like those of a woman in labor; I am staggered by what I hear, I am bewildered by what I see. 4My heart falters, fear makes me tremble; the twilight I longed for has become a horror to me. 5They set the tables, they spread the rugs, they eat, they drink! Get up, you officers, oil the shields!
Read all of Isaiah 21Isaiah 21:3 word by word
עַל־כֵּ֗ן מָלְא֤וּ מָתְנַי֙ חַלְחָלָ֔ה צִירִ֣ים אֲחָז֔וּנִי כְּצִירֵ֖י יֽוֹלֵדָ֑ה נַעֲוֵ֣יתִי מִשְּׁמֹ֔עַ נִבְהַ֖לְתִּי מֵרְאֽוֹת׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Therefore are my loinsמׇתְנַ֫יִםmôthen · loinH4975
- filledמָלֵאmâlê' mâlâ' · to fillH4390
- with painחַלְחָלָהchalchâlâh · anguishH2479
- pangsצִירtsîyr · pangH6735
- have taken holdאָחַז'âchaz · to graspH270
- of a woman that travailethיָלַדyâlad · to begetH3205
- I was bowed downעָוָה‛âvâh · to twistH5753
- at the hearingשָׁמַעshâma‛ · to hear: hearH8085
- I was dismayedבָּהַלbâhal · to dismayH926
- at the seeingרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
Cross-references for Isaiah 21:3
- Isaiah 15:5My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the hill to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.
- Isaiah 16:9So I weep, as Jazer weeps, for the vines of Sibmah. Heshbon and Elealeh, I drench you with tears! The shouts of joy over your ripened fruit and over your harvests have been stilled.
- Habakkuk 3:16I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us.
- Isaiah 13:8Terror will seize them, pain and anguish will grip them; they will writhe like a woman in labor. They will look aghast at each other, their faces aflame.
- Isaiah 26:17As a pregnant woman about to give birth writhes and cries out in her pain, so were we in your presence, Lord.
- Psalms 48:6Trembling seized them there, pain like that of a woman in labor.
- Jeremiah 48:41Kerioth will be captured and the strongholds taken. In that day the hearts of Moab’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
- Jeremiah 49:22Look! An eagle will soar and swoop down, spreading its wings over Bozrah. In that day the hearts of Edom’s warriors will be like the heart of a woman in labor.
- Jeremiah 50:43The king of Babylon has heard reports about them, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.
- Micah 4:9Why do you now cry aloud— have you no king? Has your ruler perished, that pain seizes you like that of a woman in labor?
- 1 Thessalonians 5:3While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
- Deuteronomy 28:67In the morning you will say, “If only it were evening!” and in the evening, “If only it were morning!”—because of the terror that will fill your hearts and the sights that your eyes will see.
- Daniel 5:5Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote.
Commentaries on Isaiah 21:3
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 3Therefore - In this verse, and the following, the prophet represents himself as “in” Babylon, and as a witness of the calamities which would come upon the city. He describes the sympathy which he feels in her sorrows, and represents himself as deeply affected by her calamities. A similar description occurred in the pain which the prophet represents himself as enduring on account of the calamities of Moab (see Isaiah 15:5, note; Isaiah 16:11, note). My…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 3I am bewildered to hear, I am dismayed to see: Through his vision, Isaiah felt the fear of the Babylonian people (see also Daniel 8:27; 10:16–17).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 33. Isaiah imagines himself among the exiles in Babylon and cannot help feeling moved by the calamities which come on it. So for Moab (Is 15:5; 16:11). pain--(Compare Is 13:8; Eze 30:4, 19; Na 2:10). at the hearing--The Hebrew may mean, "I was so bowed down that I could not hear; I was so dismayed that I could not see" (Ge 16:2; Psa 69:23) [Maurer].Read the comment
Topics related to Isaiah 21:3
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Isaiah 21
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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