29 Heb “silent” (so , , , ); “have held my temper.”
30 The imagery depicts the Lord as a warrior who is eager to fight and can no longer hold himself back from the attack.
31 Heb “I will dry up the mountains and hills.” The “mountains and hills” stand by synecdoche for the trees that grow on them. Some prefer to derive the verb from a homonymic root and translate, “I will lay waste.”
32 The Hebrew text reads, “I will turn streams into coastlands [or “islands”].” Scholars who believe that this reading makes little sense have proposed an emendation of אִיִּים (’iyyim, “islands”) to צִיּוֹת (tsiyyot, “dry places”; cf. , , ). However, since all the versions support the reading, there is insufficient grounds for an emendation here. Although the imagery of changing rivers into islands is somewhat strange, J. N. Oswalt describes this imagery against the backdrop of rivers of the Near East. The receding of these rivers at times occasioned the appearance of previously submerged islands (Isaiah [], 2:).
33 The imagery of this verse, which depicts the Lord bringing a curse of infertility to the earth, metaphorically describes how the Lord will destroy his enemies.
34 Heb “a way they do not know” (so ); “a road they do not know.”
35 Heb “in paths they do not know I will make them walk.”
36 Heb “and the rough ground into a level place.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

For a long time I have held my peace;

I have kept still and restrained myself;

now I will cry out like a woman in labor;

I will gasp and pant.

I will lay waste mountains and hills,

and dry up all their vegetation;

I will turn the rivers into islands,

and dry up the pools.

And I will lead the blind

in a way that they do not know,

in paths that they have not known

I will guide them.

I will turn the darkness before them into light,

the rough places into level ground.

These are the things I do,

and I do not forsake them.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“For a long time I have kept silent,

I have been quiet and held myself back.

But now, like a woman in childbirth,

I cry out, I gasp and pant.

I will lay waste the mountains and hills

and dry up all their vegetation;

I will turn rivers into islands

and dry up the pools.

I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,

along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;

I will turn the darkness into light before them

and make the rough places smooth.

These are the things I will do;

I will not forsake them.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

“I have kept silent from ages past;

I have been quiet and restrained myself.

But now, I will groan like a woman in labor,

gasping breathlessly.

I will lay waste mountains and hills

and dry up all their vegetation.

I will turn rivers into islands

and dry up marshes.

I will lead the blind by a way they did not know;

I will guide them on paths they have not known.

I will turn darkness to light in front of them

and rough places into level ground.

This is what I will do for them,

and I will not abandon them.

NLTNew Living Translation

He will say, “I have long been silent;

yes, I have restrained myself.

But now, like a woman in labor,

I will cry and groan and pant.

I will level the mountains and hills

and blight all their greenery.

I will turn the rivers into dry land

and will dry up all the pools.

I will lead blind Israel down a new path,

guiding them along an unfamiliar way.

I will brighten the darkness before them

and smooth out the road ahead of them.

Yes, I will indeed do these things;

I will not forsake them.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

I have been silent for a long time;

I have kept silent;

I have restrained myself like one giving birth;

I will moan, pant, and gasp together.

I will cause mountains and hills to dry up,

and I will cause all their herbage to wither;

and I will make rivers like islands,

and I will cause pools to dry up.

And I will lead the blind by a road they do not know;

I will cause them to tread on paths they have not known.

I will make darkness in their presence into light

and rough places into level ground.

These are the things I will do,

and I will not forsake them.

KJV 1900King James Version

I have long time holden my peace;

I have been still, and refrained myself:

Now will I cry like a travailing woman;

I will destroy and devour at once.

I will make waste mountains and hills,

And dry up all their herbs;

And I will make the rivers islands,

And I will dry up the pools.

And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not;

I will lead them in paths that they have not known:

I will make darkness light before them,

And crooked things straight.

These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.

Public Domain