1 Anna looked intently to heaven and saw a nest of sparrows in the laurel tree. And Anna lamented, saying to herself, “Woe is me! Who gave birth to me? What womb bore me? I was born as a curse before the people of Israel and have been despised; they’ve mocked me and banished me from the Temple of the Lord my God. (PJA) 2 “Woe is me! What am I like? I’m not like the birds of heaven, because even the birds of heaven are fruitful before you, Lord. “Woe is me! What am I like? I’m not like the animals, because even the animals are fruitful before you, Lord. “Woe is me! What am I like? I’m not like the wild beasts of the earth, because even the wild beasts of the earth are fruitful before you, Lord. (PJA) 3 “Woe is me! What am I like? I’m not like these waters, because even these waters are serene yet churn, and their fish bless you, Lord. “Woe is me! What am I like? I’m not like this earth, because the earth produces her fruits when it’s time and blesses you, Lord.” (PJA)
Protoevangelium of James 3:1–3
Semantically similar passages
2 Esdras 10:11–13
11 Who then should mourn more, she who has lost so great a multitude, or you, who are grieved but for one? (WEB) 12 But if you say to me, ‘My lamentation is not like the earth’s, for I have lost the fruit of my womb, which I brought forth with pains, and bare with sorrows… (WEB)
Psalms 102:5–7
5 Through my loud groaning my flesh clings to my bones. 6 I am like a desert owl, like an owl among the ruins. 7 I lie awake; I am like a lone bird on a housetop.
Jeremiah 15:9–11
9 The mother of seven will grow faint; she will breathe her last breath. Her sun will set while it is still day; she will be disgraced and humiliated. And the rest I will put to the sword in the presence of their enemies,” declares the LORD. 10 Woe to me, my mother…
Protoevangelium of James 13:1–2
1a And she was in her sixth month. And look! Joseph came from his building, and came into the house, and found her pregnant. And he struck his face and flung himself on the ground in sackcloth and wept bitterly, saying, “How can I look to the Lord God? What pray… (PJA)
2 Esdras 5:34–36
34 I said, “No, Lord; but I have spoken out of grief; for my heart is in agony every hour while I labor to comprehend the way of the Most High, and to seek out part of his judgment.” (WEB) 35 He said to me, “You can’t.” And I said, “Why, Lord? Why was I born? Why wasn’t m… (WEB)
Job 10:17–19
17 You produce new witnesses against me and multiply Your anger toward me. Hardships assault me in wave after wave. 18 Why then did You bring me from the womb? Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me! 19 If only I had never come to be, but had been carried from the…
Baruch 4:11–13
11 For with joy I nourished them, but sent them away with weeping and mourning. (WEB) 12 Let no man rejoice over me, a widow and forsaken by many. For the sins of my children, I am left desolate, because they turned away from the law of God (WEB) 13 and had no regard for his statut… (WEB)
Job 3:10–12
10 For that night did not shut the doors of the womb to hide the sorrow from my eyes. 11 Why did I not perish at birth; why did I not die as I came from the womb? 12 Why were there knees to receive me, and breasts that I should be nursed?
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