1And thou,—do thou lift up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

2And say, What a noble lioness was thy mother! among lions did she lie down, in the midst of young lions did she raise her whelps!

3And she brought up one of her whelps: he became a young lion, and he learned to tear in pieces the prey; [even] men he devoured.

4And when nations heard of him, he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings unto the land of Egypt.

5Now when she saw that she had long waited, [that] her hope was lost, she took another one of her whelps, and made him a young lion.

6And he went up and down in the midst of lions, he became a young lion; and he learned to tear in pieces the prey; even men he devoured.

7And he broke down their palaces, and their cities laid he in ruins: and then was terrified the land, with all that filled it, because of the noise of his roaring.

8Then set themselves the nations against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread over him their net: in their pit was he caught.

9And they put him in a cage with nose-rings [in his nose], and they brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into strong-holds, in order that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.

10Thy mother was like a vine, if I compare thee to aught, planted by the waters: fruitful and full of boughs was she by reason of many waters.

11And she had strong branches [fit] for the sceptres of rulers, and her stature grew up high between the thick-branched [trees], and she was seen through her height by means of the multitude of her tendrils.

12But she was plucked up in fury, to the ground was she cast down, and the east wind dried up her fruit: and torn off and dried up were her strong branches, a fire consumed them.

13And now is she planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

14And fire is gone out of a branch of her boughs, and hath devoured her fruit, so that there is no more on her a strong branch for a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and it is become a lamentation.