¹⁹Because thy wastes, and thy desolate places, And the land of thy ruins, Surely now are straitened because of inhabitants, And far off have been those consuming thee. ²⁰Again do the sons of thy bereavement say in thine ears: ‘The place is too strait for me, Come nigh to me—and I dwell.’ ²¹And thou hast said in thy heart: ‘Who hath begotten for me—these? And I bereaved and gloomy, A captive, and turned aside, And these—who hath nourished? Lo, I—I was left by myself, these—whence are they?

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In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

“Surely your waste and your desolate places

and your devastated land—

surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants,

and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

The children of your bereavement

will yet say in your ears:

‘The place is too narrow for me;

make room for me to dwell in.’

Then you will say in your heart:

‘Who has borne me these?

I was bereaved and barren,

exiled and put away,

but who has brought up these?

Behold, I was left alone;

from where have these come?’ ”

NIVNew International Version (2011)

“Though you were ruined and made desolate

and your land laid waste,

now you will be too small for your people,

and those who devoured you will be far away.

The children born during your bereavement

will yet say in your hearing,

‘This place is too small for us;

give us more space to live in.’

Then you will say in your heart,

‘Who bore me these?

I was bereaved and barren;

I was exiled and rejected.

Who brought these up?

I was left all alone,

but these—where have they come from?’ ”

CSBChristian Standard Bible

For your waste and desolate places

and your land marked by ruins

will now be indeed too small for the inhabitants,

and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

Yet as you listen, the children

that you have been deprived of will say,

‘This place is too small for me;

make room for me so that I may settle.’

Then you will say within yourself,

‘Who fathered these for me?

I was deprived of my children and unable to conceive,

exiled and wandering—

but who brought them up?

See, I was left by myself—

but these, where did they come from?’ ”

NLTNew Living Translation

“Even the most desolate parts of your abandoned land

will soon be crowded with your people.

Your enemies who enslaved you

will be far away.

The generations born in exile will return and say,

‘We need more room! It’s crowded here!’

Then you will think to yourself,

‘Who has given me all these descendants?

For most of my children were killed,

and the rest were carried away into exile.

I was left here all alone.

Where did all these people come from?

Who bore these children?

Who raised them for me?’ ”

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Surely your sites of ruins and desolate places and land of ruins,

surely now you will be too cramped for your inhabitants,

and those who engulfed you will be far away.

Yet the children born when you were bereaved will say in your hearing,

“The place is too cramped for me;

make room for me so that I can dwell.”

Then you will say in your heart,

“Who has borne me these?”

And, “I was bereaved and barren,

exiled and thrust away;

so who raised these?

Look at me! I was left alone;

where have these come from?”

KJV 1900King James Version

For thy waste and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction,

Shall even now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants,

And they that swallowed thee up shall be far away.

The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears,

The place is too strait for me:

Give place to me that I may dwell.

Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these,

Seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate,

A captive, and removing to and fro?

And who hath brought up these?

Behold, I was left alone;

These, where had they been?

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