A Lament Over Israel’s Princes
1 “Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel
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and say: “ ‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among them and reared her cubs.
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She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.
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The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
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“ ‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion.
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He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.
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He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring.
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Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit.
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With hooks they pulled him into a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison, so his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel.