1
And thou, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2
and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps in the midst of the young lions.
3
And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
4
And the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings into the land of Egypt.
5
And when she saw that she had waited [and] her hope was lost, she took another of her whelps, [and] made him a young lion.
6
And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
7
And he knew their [desolate] palaces, and he laid waste their cities, so that the land was desolate, and all it contained, by the noise of his roaring.
8
Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.
9
And they put him in a cage with nose-rings, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10
Thy mother was as a vine, in thy rest, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.