1 "Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, |
2 "and say: 'What is your mother? A lioness: She lay down among the lions; Among the young lions she nourished her cubs. |
3 She brought up one of her cubs, And he became a young lion; He learned to catch prey, And he devoured men. |
4 The nations also heard of him; He was trapped in their pit, And they brought him with chains to the land of Egypt. |
5 'When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. |
6 He roved among the lions, And became a young lion; He learned to catch prey; He devoured men. |
7 He knew their desolate places, And laid waste their cities; The land with its fullness was desolated By the noise of his roaring. |
8 Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side, And spread their net over him; He was trapped in their pit. |
9 They put him in a cage with chains, And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in nets, That his voice should no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel. |
10 'Your mother was like a vine in your bloodline, Planted by the waters, Fruitful and full of branches Because of many waters. |
11 She had strong branches for scepters of rulers. She towered in stature above the thick branches, And was seen in her height amid the dense foliage. |
12 But she was plucked up in fury, She was cast down to the ground, And the east wind dried her fruit. Her strong branches were broken and withered; The fire consumed them. |
13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land. |
14 Fire has come out from a rod of her branches And devoured her fruit, So that she has no strong branch--a scepter for ruling.'" This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation. |