Translations
F.O.G.MPrimary
F.O.G MessageWhat will you say when judgment falls? You trained these nations as your closest allies, but now they will be set over you as rulers. Won't anguish grip you like a woman writhing in labor?
F.O.GSecondary
The F.O.GWhat will you say when He appoints over you those whom you yourself trained as close companions? Will not birth-pangs seize you like a woman in labour?
KJV
King James VersionWhat wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail?
BSB
Berean Standard BibleWhat will you say when He sets over you close allies whom you yourself trained? Will not pangs of anguish grip you, as they do a woman in labor?
Footnotes
*Alufim* (אַלּוּפִים) can mean "commanders/chieftains" or "intimate companions/close friends" (cf. Ps. 55:14, where *aluf* means a trusted intimate). Jerusalem's cultivated alliances—whether with Babylon or Egypt—become the instrument of her humiliation. The verb *pakad* (פָּקַד, "appoint/visit/attend to") carries the weight of divine oversight in both blessing and judgment, so the appointment of these rulers is YHWH's sovereign act, not mere political accident. FOG renders "close companions" for the ironic intimacy; FOG Message uses "allies...rulers" to make the reversal explicit.