28 The meaning of this verse is unclear. It appears to read literally, “O Lord, in distress they visit you, they pour out [?] an incantation, your discipline to them.” פָּקַד (paqad) may here carry the sense of “seek with interest” (cf. Ezek 23:21 and 823 ) or “seek in vain” (cf. Isa 34:16), but it is peculiar for the Lord to be the object of this verb. צָקוּן (tsaqun) may be a Qal perfect third plural form from צוּק (tsuq, “pour out, melt”), though the verb is not used of pouring out words in its two other occurrences. Because of the appearance of צַר (tsar, “distress”) in the preceding line, it is tempting to emend the form to a noun and derive it from צוּק (“be in distress”) The term לַחַשׁ (lakhash) elsewhere refers to an incantation (Isa 3:3; Jer 8:17; Eccl 10:11) or amulet (Isa 3:20). Perhaps here it refers to ritualistic prayers or to magical incantations used to ward off evil.
29 On the use of כְּמוֹ (kémo, “like, as”) here, see 455 Israel’s distress and suffering, likened here to the pains of childbirth, seemed to be for no purpose. A woman in labor endures pain with the hope that a child will be born; in Israel’s case no such positive outcome was apparent. The nation was like a woman who strains to bring forth a child, but can’t push the baby through to daylight. All her effort produces nothing.
30 Heb “and the inhabitants of the world do not fall.” The term נָפַל (nafal) apparently means here, “be born,” though the Qal form of the verb is not used with this nuance anywhere else in the OT. (The Hiphil appears to be used in the sense of “give birth” in v. 19, however.) The implication of verse 18b seems to be that Israel hoped its suffering would somehow end in deliverance and an increase in population. The phrase “inhabitants of the world” seems to refer to the human race in general, but the next verse, which focuses on Israel’s dead, suggests the referent may be more limited.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

O Lord, in distress they sought you;

they poured out a whispered prayer

when your discipline was upon them.

Like a pregnant woman

who writhes and cries out in her pangs

when she is near to giving birth,

so were we because of you, O Lord;

we were pregnant, we writhed,

but we have given birth to wind.

We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth,

and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Lord, they came to you in their distress;

when you disciplined them,

they could barely whisper a prayer.

As a pregnant woman about to give birth

writhes and cries out in her pain,

so were we in your presence, Lord.

We were with child, we writhed in labor,

but we gave birth to wind.

We have not brought salvation to the earth,

and the people of the world have not come to life.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Lord, they went to you in their distress;

they poured out whispered prayers

because your discipline fell on them.

As a pregnant woman about to give birth

writhes and cries out in her pains,

so we were before you, Lord.

We became pregnant, we writhed in pain;

we gave birth to wind.

We have won no victories on earth,

and the earth’s inhabitants have not fallen.

NLTNew Living Translation

Lord, in distress we searched for you.

We prayed beneath the burden of your discipline.

Just as a pregnant woman

writhes and cries out in pain as she gives birth,

so were we in your presence, Lord.

We, too, writhe in agony,

but nothing comes of our suffering.

We have not given salvation to the earth,

nor brought life into the world.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Yahweh, in distress they have visited you;

they poured out an incantation;

your discipline was on them.

Like a pregnant woman on the point of giving birth, she writhes;

she cries in her labor pains.

So we were because of your presence, Yahweh.

We became pregnant, we writhed;

we gave birth to wind.

We cannot bring about deliverance on the earth,

and no inhabitants of the world are born.

KJV 1900King James Version

Lord, In trouble have they visited thee,

They poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them.

Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery,

Is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs;

So have we been in thy sight, O Lord.

We have been with child, we have been in pain,

We have as it were brought forth wind;

We have not wrought any deliverance in the earth;

Neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.

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