1. “As for you, raise a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2. and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness! Among lions she couched, among young lions she reared her cubs.
3. When she raised up one of her cubs, he became a young lion. When he learned to tear prey, he devoured people.
4. When the nations heard about him, he was caught in their pit. They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5. When she saw that she waited in vain, her hope was lost. So she took another cub and made him a young lion.
6. He prowled among the lions. He became a young lion, learned to catch prey, devoured men.
7. He ravaged their widows and laid waste their cities. The land and all who were in it were terrified from his roaring.
8. The nations gathered against him on every side from the provinces. They spread their net over him. He was caught in their pit.
9. They put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him in hunting nets. So his roar was no longer heard on the mountains of Israel.
10. “Your mother was like a vine in your blood, planted by the water. It was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water.