1 “ As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel

¶ And take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

2 a nd say, ‘ What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions, She reared her cubs.

and thou shalt say, How hast thy mother, the lioness, lain down among the lions? She raised her whelps among the young lions.

3 ‘ When she brought up one of her cubs, He became a lion, And he learned to tear his prey; He devoured men.

And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey and to devour men.

4 ‘ Then nations heard about him; He was captured in their pit, And they brought him with hooks To the land of Egypt.

The Gentiles also heard of him; he was taken in their trap, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.

5 ‘ When she saw, as she waited, That her hope was lost, She took another of her cubs And made him a young lion.

Now when she saw that she had waited a long time and her hope was being lost, then she took another of her whelps and made him a young lion.

6 ‘ And he walked about among the lions; He became a young lion, He learned to tear his prey; He devoured men.

And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion and learned to catch the prey and devoured men.

7 ‘ He destroyed their fortified towers And laid waste their cities; And the land and its fullness were appalled Because of the sound of his roaring.

And he knew their widows, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fullness thereof, by the voice of his roaring.

8 ‘ Then nations set against him On every side from their provinces, And they spread their net over him; He was captured in their pit.

Then the Gentiles set against him on every side from the provinces and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.

9 ‘ They put him in a cage with hooks And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in hunting nets So that his voice would be heard no more On the mountains of Israel.

And they put him in prison in chains and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into fortresses that his voice should no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

10 ‘ Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, Planted by the waters; It was fruitful and full of branches Because of abundant waters.

¶ Thy mother was like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters, bearing fruit and spreading forth branches by reason of the many waters.

11 ‘ And it had strong branches fit for scepters of rulers, And its height was raised above the clouds So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.

And she had strong rods for the sceptres of those that bore rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height and with the multitude of her branches.

12 ‘ But it was plucked up in fury; It was cast down to the ground; And the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branch was torn off So that it withered; The fire consumed it.

But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; her branches were broken, and she withered; fire consumed the rod of her strength.

13 ‘ And now it is planted in the wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land.

And now she is planted in the wilderness in a dry and thirsty ground.

14 ‘ And fire has gone out from its branch; It has consumed its shoots and fruit, So that there is not in it a strong branch, A scepter to rule.’” This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.

And fire is gone out of the rod from her branches, which has devoured her fruit, so that no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule has remained in her. This is a lamentation and shall be for a lamentation.