¶ Moreover take¹ thou up a lamentation for the princes² of Israel,

And say, What is thy mother? A lioness³: she lay⁴ down among lions, she nourished her whelps⁵ among young lions⁶.

And she brought up one⁷ of her whelps: it became⁸ a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.

The nations also heard of him; he was⁹ taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.

Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another¹⁰ of her whelps, and made him a young lion¹¹.

And he went¹² up and down among the lions, he became¹³ a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.

And he knew their desolate palaces¹⁴, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness¹⁵ thereof, by the noise of his roaring.

Then the nations¹⁶ set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread¹⁷ their net over him: he was taken in their pit.

And they put him in ward in chains¹⁸, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his¹⁹ voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

¶ Thy mother²⁰ is like²¹ a vine in thy blood²², planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full²³ of branches by reason of many waters.

And she had²⁴ strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature²⁵ was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.

But she was²⁶ plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east²⁷ wind dried up her fruit: her strong²⁸ rods were broken and withered; the fire²⁹ consumed them.

And now she is³⁰ planted in the wilderness³¹, in a dry³² and thirsty ground.

And fire³³ is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath³⁴ no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is³⁵ a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.