For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck.

For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the breasts that never gave suck.

For behold, the days shall come, wherein they will say: Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the paps that have not given suck.

for behold, days are coming in which they will say, Blessed are the barren, and wombs that have not borne, and breasts that have not given suck.

For behold, the days are coming, in which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts which never nourished infants.

for, lo, days do come, in which they shall say, Happy the barren, and wombs that did not bare, and paps that did not give suck;

For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts which never gave suck.

For a time is coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the women who never bore children, and the breasts which have never given nourishment.'

For the days are coming in which they will say, Happy are those who have had no children, whose bodies have never given birth, whose breasts have never given milk.

For behold, the days will arrive in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that have not borne, and the breasts that have not nursed.'

A time, I tell you, is coming, when it will be said – 'Happy are the women who are barren, and those who have never borne children or nursed them!'

For, lo, the days will come. He threatens, that a calamity which is not usual, but fearful and unheard of, is at hand, in which will be perceived, at a glance, the vengeance of God. As if he had said, that this nation will not be carried away by a single or ordinary kind of destruction, but that it will perish under a mass of numerous and great calamities, so that it would be much more desirable that the mountains should fall upon them, and crush them, or that the earth should open and swallow them up, than that they should pine away amidst the cruel torments of a lingering destruction. Nor did those threatenings fall to the ground without effect, but this thunder of words was surpassed by the awful result, as is evident from Josephus. And as the wish to be crushed by the mountains, and the cursing of their children, were expressive of the lowest despair, Christ taught by these words that the Jews would at length feel that they had made war, not with a mortal man, but with God. Thus shall the enemies of God reap the just reward of their impious rage, when they who formerly dared even to attack heaven, shall in vain desire to employ the earth as a shield against his vengeance.

For behold the days are coming,.... The time is hastening on; yet a little while, a few years more, and such times of distress will be:
in the which they shall say; or it shall be commonly said; it will be in every one's mouth:
blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps that never gave suck; that is, happy wilt those persons be who have no children, to be starved to death, for want of bread; or to be killed with the sword before their eyes, which must greatly enhance their own miseries. Dr. Hammond thinks, that one passage particularly is referred to, related by Josephus; that when Titus had so closely encompassed the city with a wall, that there was no coming out for provisions, upon which a sore famine commenced, so that they fed on dung and dirt, and shoes, and girdles, one rich and noble woman, whose name was Mary, the daughter of Eleazar, being stripped of all she had, by the seditious, killed her own child, and dressed it, and ate part of it; and the other part being found by the soldiers that broke in upon her, the news of this shocking fact was spread all over the city, and every one looked with horror upon it, and with the same compassion, as if they had done it themselves: and then might those words be said, "blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare", &c. who, though starving themselves, were under no temptation to do such a detestable action.