Revised Standard Version RSV
GOD'S WORD Translation GW
1 And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
1
Sing a funeral song for the princes of Israel.
2 and say: What a lioness was your mother among lions! She couched in the midst of young lions, rearing her whelps.
2
Say: Your mother was like a lioness. She lay down among the lions. She fed many cubs.
3 And she brought up one of her whelps; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men.
3
One of the cubs she raised became a young lion. He learned to tear apart the animals he hunted. He ate people.
4 The nations sounded an alarm against him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
4
The nations heard about him, caught him in their pit, and brought him with hooks to Egypt.
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.
5
The lioness waited until she saw that there was no more hope. Then she took another one of her cubs and raised him into a young lion.
6 He prowled among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men.
6
He became a young lion, and he prowled among the lions. He learned to tear apart the animals he hunted. He ate people.
7 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.
7
He destroyed fortresses and turned cities into wastelands. The land and everyone living in it were terrified by the sound of his roar.
8 Then the nations set against him snares on every side; they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.
8
The nations from every region came together against him. They spread their net over him and caught him in their pit.
9 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.
9
With hooks they put him in a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison so that his roar wouldn't be heard anymore on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard transplanted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water.
10
Your mother was like a grapevine that was planted near water. It had a lot of fruit and many branches because there was plenty of water.
11 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.
11
Its branches were strong. They were used to make scepters for kings. It grew to be tall with many branches around it, and everyone saw it because of its many branches.
12 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.
12
But in anger it was uprooted and thrown to the ground. The east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches broke off. They withered and were burned.
13 Now it is transplanted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.
13
Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and waterless land.
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.
14
Fire has spread from the vine's main branch. Fire has destroyed its fruit. It no longer has any strong branches that could be used as a king's scepter. This is a funeral song. It is to be used as a funeral song.
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.
GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Copyright © 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Used by permission.