19:1 “Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel
19:2 and say: “‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among the young lions and reared her cubs.
19:3 She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he devoured men.
19:4 The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
19:5 “‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion.
19:6 He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he devoured men.
19:7 He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring.
19:8 Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit.
19:9 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.
19:10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water.
19:11 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.
19:12 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.
19:13 Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land.
19:14 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.”
19:1 But you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
19:2 And say, What was your mother? / A lioness among lions. / She lay in the midst of young lions; / She brought up her whelps.
19:3 When she raised up one of her whelps, / He became a young lion; / And he learned to take prey; / He devoured men.
19:4 Then the nations heard of him; / He was captured in their pit, / And they brought him with hooks / To the land of Egypt.
19:5 When she saw that she had waited, / That her hope was lost, / She took another one of her whelps; / She made him a young lion.
19:6 And he went about among the lions; / He became a young lion. / And he learned to take prey; / He devoured men.
19:7 And he destroyed their citadels / And laid waste their cities; / And the land and its fullness were horrified / At the sound of his roaring.
19:8 Then the nations set against him / All around from the provinces / And spread their net over him; / He was captured in their pit.
19:9 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 would no longer be heard / Upon the mountains of Israel.
19:10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, / Transplanted beside the waters; / It was fruitful and full of branches / Because of abundant waters.
19:11 And it had strong branches / For scepters of those who rule; / And its height was exalted among the leafy boughs, / And it was visible in its height because of the multitude of its branches.
19:12 But it was plucked up in wrath; / It was cast down to the ground; / And the east wind dried up its fruit; / Its strong branch was broken off and it withered; / The fire consumed it.
19:13 And now it is transplanted in the wilderness, / In a dry and thirsty land.
19:14 And fire has gone forth from its branch; / It has consumed its offshoots and its fruit, / So that there is no strong branch in it, / A scepter to rule. This s a lamentation and it has become a lamentation.