| 1 | "Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel | |
| 2 | and say: "'What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among the young lions and reared her cubs. | |
| 3 | She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he devoured men. | |
| 4 | The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt. | |
| 5 | "'When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion. | |
| 6 | He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he devoured men. | |
| 7 | He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring. | |
| 8 | Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit. | |
| 9 | With hooks they pulled him into a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison, so his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel. | |
| 10 | "'Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water. | |
| 11 | Its branches were strong, fit for a ruler's scepter. It towered high above the thick foliage, conspicuous for its height and for its many branches. | |
| 12 | But it was uprooted in fury and thrown to the ground. The east wind made it shrivel, it was stripped of its fruit; its strong branches withered and fire consumed them. | |
| 13 | Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land. | |
| 14 | Fire spread from one of its main branches and consumed its fruit. No strong branch is left on it fit for a ruler's scepter.' This is a lament and is to be used as a lament." | |