A mother’s sons

¹You, raise a lament for Israel’s princes.

²Say:

What a lioness among lionesses was your mother!

She bedded down among the strong young lions and reared her cubs.

³She singled out one of her cubs and he became a strong young lion;

he learned to tear flesh and devour humans.

⁴When the nations heard about him, they caught him in their trap

and carried him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

⁵When she realized that she waited in vain, her hope faded.

So she took another of her cubs and set him up as a strong young lion.

⁶He went on the prowl with the other lions and became a strong young lion.

He learned to tear flesh and devour humans;

⁷he ravaged their widows and laid waste to their cities.[#19.7 Or knew]

When the earth and everything in it became horrified by the sound of his raging,

⁸the nations from the surrounding regions allied against him.

They cast their nets over him and caught him in their trap.

⁹They put a collar on him and brought him with hooks.

They brought him with nets to the king of Babylon

The proud mother

¹⁰Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted beside the waters;[#19.10 Or in your blood]

she bore lush fruit and foliage because of the plentiful water,

¹¹and she produced mighty branches, fit for rulers’ scepters.

She grew tall, and her crown went up between the clouds.

Because of her height and thick growth, she became conspicuous.

¹²So she was struck down in anger,

The east wind dried her out and destroyed her fruit;

it sapped the branch of its strength,

and fire consumed it.

¹³So now she is planted in the desert,

in a parched and thirsty land,

¹⁴and fire has gone out from her branch and consumed her foliage and fruit,

This is a lamentation, and it will serve as a lamentation.