1 “And you, raise a lament about the leaders of Israel,
2 and you must say, ‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions. She lay down in the midst of young lions, and she reared her lion cubs.
3 And she raised up one from her cubs; he became a fierce lion, and he learned to tear prey; he ate humans.
4 And nations heard about him; in their pit he was caught, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5 And she saw that she was waiting in vain; her hope was destroyed, and she took one from her cubs, and she made him a fierce lion.
6 And he walked about in the midst of lions; he became a fierce lion, and he learned to tear prey; he ate humans.
7 And he knew their widows, and he devastated their cities, and the land was appalled, and everyone in it at the sound of his roar.
8 And nations set out against him from the surrounding provinces, and they spread their net over him, and he was caught in their pit.
9 And they put him in a collar with hooks, and they brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into a prison, so that his voice would not be heard any longer on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like the vine in your vineyard; planted fruitfully beside water, and it was full of branches from many waters.
11 And she produced branches of strength to scepters of rulers; its height became tall between thick foliage, and it was seen because of its tallness among the abundance of its branches.
12 But it was uprooted in rage; it was thrown to the earth, and the east wind dried up its fruit; they were stripped off, and its strong branch dried up; fire consumed it.
13 And now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land.
14 And so fire has gone out from the stem of its branches; its fruit it has consumed, and there was not in it a strong branch, a scepter for ruling.’ ” This is a lament, and it will be used as a lament.