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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
For a long time, God has patiently held back His powerful intervention, but now He declares He will unleash His overwhelming wrath, not subtly, but with the explosive force of a woman in the throes of childbirth. This intense imagery highlights the sudden, powerful, and uncontainable nature of God's coming judgment against His enemies.
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.
English Standard Version (ESV)
God declares that He has been patient and silent for a very long time, holding back His actions. Now, however, He will cry out with the intense, breathless urgency of a woman in labor, expressing a surge of pent-up emotion and readiness for decisive action. This imagery signals a dramatic shift from His previous stillness to an imminent and powerful intervention.
Have you ever felt like God was silent when you desperately needed His intervention? This verse speaks to that experience, but from God's perspective.
The Lord declares, 'For a long time I have held My peace; I have been still and restrained Myself.'
The imagery shifts dramatically from silence to a powerful, visceral cry. What does this intense expression signify?
The verse continues with a powerful shift: 'now I will cry out like a woman in labor; I will gasp and pant.'
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This verse vividly portrays God's decision to end a long period of patient restraint and intervene with powerful, decisive action. It reflects the anticipation of God's judgment and deliverance during the Babylonian exile, a time when Israel's hopes rested on God's promises for their future, even amidst their suffering and dispersion.
c. 586 BC— this verse
Fall of Jerusalem
Jerusalem and the First Temple are destroyed by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar. Many Jews are taken into exile, marking a period of national crisis and displacement.
c. 580-570 BC
Ezekiel's Ministry in Exile
The prophet Ezekiel, himself in exile in Babylon, delivers powerful prophecies to the displaced Jewish community, offering both judgment for their past failures and hope for future restoration.
c. 550 BC
Rise of Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great of Persia begins his conquests, eventually leading to the overthrow of the Babylonian Empire. His rise is seen by some prophets as a divinely appointed instrument for Israel's release.
c. 539 BC
Fall of Babylon
Babylon is conquered by Cyrus the Great, fulfilling prophecies about the end of the Babylonian dominance and paving the way for the return of the Jewish exiles to Jerusalem.
c. 538 BC
Edict of Cyrus
Cyrus issues a decree allowing the Jewish exiles to return to their homeland and rebuild their Temple, marking the end of the Babylonian Exile.
This passage speaks of God's law being written on the hearts of His people, mirroring the internal transformation implied by God's pent-up emotions finally being released in Isaiah 42:14.
Psalm 2:4This psalm describes God's perspective from heaven, finding the actions of humanity humorous or even contemptible, which can relate to the 'holding His peace' of Isaiah 42:14 before God acts decisively.
Lamentations 1:18This verse expresses a profound sense of isolation and suffering, echoing the deep, restrained emotion that precedes the outpouring described in Isaiah 42:14.
Romans 8:22The creation 'groans and travails in pain together' as if in labor, a powerful parallel to the imagery of God 'crying out like a woman in labor' in Isaiah 42:14, signifying a profound, world-altering event.
barnesIsaiah 42:14: "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 have long time holden my peace - This is the language of Yahweh, and it means that he had for a long time been patient and forbearing; but that now he would go forth as a warrior to overpower and destroy his foes. I will destroy - The word used here (from נשׁם nâsham) denotes properly to breathe hard, to pant, as a woman in tra…
cambridgeIsaiah 42:14: "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."
14 . I have long time holden my peace ] Lit. “I have been silent from of old.” The period of silence perhaps goes back further than the Exile; it is the time during which Jehovah has permitted the oppression of His people by the heathen. I have been still ] Lit. “been dumb”; but “still” expresses the idea better; it is abstinence f…
For a long time, God has patiently held back His powerful intervention, but now He declares He will unleash His overwhelming wrath, not subtly, but with the explosive force of a woman in the throes of childbirth. This intense imagery highlights the sudden, powerful, and uncontainable nature of God's coming judgment against His enemies.
God declares that He has been patient and silent for a very long time, holding back His actions. Now, however, He will cry out with the intense, breathless urgency of a woman in labor, expressing a surge of pent-up emotion and readiness for decisive action. This imagery signals a dramatic shift from His previous stillness to an imminent and powerful intervention.
God declares that He has been patient and silent for a very long time, holding back His actions. Now, however, He will cry out with the intense, breathless urgency of a woman in labor, expressing a surge of pent-up emotion and readiness for decisive action. This imagery signals a dramatic shift from His previous stillness to an imminent and powerful intervention.
"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." — For a long time, God has patiently held back His powerful intervention, but now He declares He will unleash His overwhelming wrath, not subtly, but with the explosive force of a woman in the throes o…
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Last reviewed October 2026