^{1 Ref} Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

^{2 Ref} and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her whelps.

^{3 Ref} And she brought up one of her whelps: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

^{4 Ref} The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks unto the land of Egypt.

^{5 Ref} 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.

^{6 Ref} And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

^{7 Ref} And he knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, because of the noise of his roaring.

^{8 Ref} Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

^{9 Ref} And they put him in a cage with hooks, 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 Ref} Thy mother was like a vine, in thy blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

^{11 Ref} And it had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.

^{12 Ref} But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them.

^{13 Ref} And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

^{14 Ref} And fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it hath devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

^{1 Ref} And thou, lift up a lamentation unto princes of Israel,

^{2 Ref} and thou hast said: What `is' thy mother? -- a lioness, Among lions she hath crouched down, In the midst of young lions she hath multiplied her whelps.

^{3 Ref} And she bringeth up one of her whelps, A young lion it hath been, And it learneth to tear prey, man it hath devoured.

^{4 Ref} And hear of it do nations, In their pit it hath been caught, And they bring it in with chains unto the land of Egypt.

^{5 Ref} And she seeth, that stayed -- perished hath her hope, And she taketh one of her whelps, A young lion she hath made it.

^{6 Ref} And it goeth up and down in the midst of lions, A young lion it hath been, And it learneth to tear prey, man it hath devoured.

^{7 Ref} And it knoweth his forsaken habitations, And their cities it hath laid waste, And desolate is the land and its fulness, Because of the voice of his roaring.

^{8 Ref} And set against it do nations Round about from the provinces. And they spread out for it their net, In their pit it hath been caught.

^{9 Ref} And they put it in prison -- in chains, And they bring it unto the king of Babylon, They bring it in unto bulwarks, So that its voice is not heard any more On mountains of Israel.

^{10 Ref} Thy mother `is' as a vine in thy blood by waters planted, Fruitful and full of boughs it hath been, Because of many waters.

^{11 Ref} And it hath strong rods for sceptres of rulers, And high is its stature above thick branches, And it appeareth in its height In the multitude of its thin shoots.

^{12 Ref} And it is plucked up in fury, To the earth it hath been cast, And the east wind hath dried up its fruit, Broken and withered hath been the rod of its strength, Fire hath consumed it.

^{13 Ref} And now -- it is planted in a wilderness, In a land dry and thirsty.

^{14 Ref} And go forth doth fire from a rod of its boughs, Its fruit it hath devoured, And it hath no rod of strength -- a sceptre to rule, Lamentation it `is' -- and it is for a lamentation!'