Isaiah 26:18
We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen.
Cross-reference
In Isaiah 37:3, the identical image of failed childbirth ('no strength to bring forth') mirrors the futility here.
In 1 Samuel 11:13, Saul declares the Lord has 'wrought salvation' — directly contrasting Isaiah's lament of no deliverance.
In 1 Samuel 14:45, Jonathan is said to have 'wrought this great salvation' — contrasting Isaiah's claim of not working deliverance.
In 2 Kings 19:3, the same phrase as Isaiah 37:3 about inability to give birth echoes the futility in Isaiah 26:18.
In Hosea 13:13, the childbirth pain motif describes Ephraim's foolish refusal to be born—parallel to bringing forth wind.
In Ecclesiastes 5:16, 'laboured for the wind' parallels Isaiah's 'brought forth wind' — both depict futile human effort.
Genesis 3:16 describes childbirth pain — echoed in Isaiah's metaphor of labor pains producing wind.
Jeremiah 48:41 compares Moab's hearts to a woman in birth pangs — similar childbirth imagery to Isaiah's, used for enemy's distress.