1 Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 And say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her whelps.
3 And she brought up one of her whelps: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks unto the land of Egypt.
5 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 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 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 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 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 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.