1And you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel,
2and say: What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs.
3She raised up one of her cubs; he became a young lion, and he learned to tear prey — he devoured a man.
4Then nations heard of him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5When she saw that she had waited in vain, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs; she made him a young lion.
6He prowled among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to tear prey — he devoured a man.
7He knew their widows, and he laid waste their cities; and the land and its fullness were appalled at the sound of his roaring.
8Then the nations set upon him, from all around, from the provinces; they spread their net over him, and he was caught in their pit.
9They put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into fortresses, so that his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.
10Your mother was like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters; fruitful and full of branches she became, from abundant waters.
11And she had strong branches, fit for the scepters of rulers; its height towered above the thick foliage, and it was seen in its height, in the abundance of its boughs.
12But she was uprooted in wrath, cast to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; her strong branches were torn off and withered; fire consumed them.
13And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a land of drought and thirst.
14And fire has gone out from its stem of branches; it has consumed its fruit, and there is no strong branch on it, no scepter for ruling. This is a lament, and it has become a lament.
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