King James Version KJV
Revised Standard Version RSV
1 Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
1
And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
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and say: What a lioness was your mother among lions! She couched in the midst of young lions, rearing her whelps.
3 And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
3
And she brought up one of her whelps; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.
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The nations sounded an alarm against him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5 Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.
5
When she saw that she was baffled, that 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, and devoured men.
6
He prowled among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men.
7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.
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And he ravaged their strongholds, and 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 on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.
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Then the nations set against him snares on every side; they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.
9 And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
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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 upon the mountains of Israel.
10 Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
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Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard transplanted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water.
11 And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.
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Its strongest stem became a ruler's scepter; it towered aloft among the thick boughs; it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
12 But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.
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But the vine was plucked up in fury, cast down to the ground; the east wind dried it up; its fruit was stripped off, its strong stem was withered; the fire consumed it.
13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.
13
Now it is transplanted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.
14 And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.
14
And fire has gone out from its stem, has consumed its branches and fruit, so that there remains in it no strong stem, no scepter for a ruler. This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.