Isa 66:7-9 | NET2full | STEP | Before she goes into labor , she gives birth ! Before her contractions begin , she delivers a boy !

‏ Isaiah 66:7-9

7 Before she goes into labor, she gives birth!
Before her contractions begin, she delivers a boy!
8 Who has ever heard of such a thing?
Who has ever seen this?
Can a country ^{▼▼tn Heb “land,” but here אֶרֶץ (ʾerets) stands metonymically for an organized nation (see the following line).} be brought forth in one day?
Can a nation be born in a single moment?
Yet as soon as Zion goes into labor she gives birth to sons!
9 Do I bring a baby to the birth opening and then not deliver it?”
asks the Lord.
“Or do I bring a baby to the point of delivery and then hold it back?”
asks your God. ^{▼▼sn The rhetorical questions expect the answer, “Of course not!”}