[1] And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, [2] and say: What was your mother? A lioness! Among lions she crouched; in the midst of young lions she reared her cubs. [3] And she brought up one of her cubs; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men. [4] The nations heard about him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. [5] When she saw that she waited in vain, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. [6] He prowled among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men, [7] and seized their widows. He laid waste their cities, and the land was appalled and all who were in it at the sound of his roaring. [8] Then the nations set against him from provinces on every side; they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit. [9] With hooks they put him in a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into custody, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel. [10] Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water. [11] Its strong stems became rulers' scepters; it towered aloft among the thick boughs; it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches. [12] But the vine was plucked up in fury, cast down to the ground; the east wind dried up its fruit; they were stripped off and withered. As for its strong stem, fire consumed it. [13] Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. [14] And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots, has consumed its fruit, so that there remains in it no strong stem, no scepter for ruling. This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.
