¹“And you, raise a lament about the leaders of Israel, ²and you must say, ‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions. She lay down in the midst of young lions, and she reared her lion cubs. ³And she raised up one from her cubs; he became a fierce lion, and he learned to tear prey; he ate humans. ⁴And nations heard about him; in their pit he was caught, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. ⁵And she saw that she was waiting in vain; her hope was destroyed, and she took one from her cubs, and she made him a fierce lion. ⁶And he walked about in the midst of lions; he became a fierce lion, and he learned to tear prey; he ate humans. ⁷And he knew their widows, and he devastated their cities, and the land was appalled, and ⌞everyone in it⌟ at the sound of his roar. ⁸And nations set out against him ⌞from the surrounding provinces⌟, and they spread their net over him, and he was caught in their pit. ⁹And they put him in a collar with hooks, and they brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into a prison, so that his voice would not be heard ⌞any longer⌟ on the mountains of Israel. ¹⁰Your mother was like the vine in your vineyard; planted ⌞fruitfully⌟ beside water, and it was full of branches from many waters. ¹¹And ⌞she produced branches of strength⌟ to scepters of rulers; its height became tall between thick foliage, and it was seen because of its tallness among the abundance of its branches. ¹²But it was uprooted in rage; it was thrown to the earth, and the east wind dried up its fruit; they were stripped off, and its strong branch dried up; fire consumed it. ¹³And now it is planted in the desert, in a ⌞dry and thirsty land⌟. ¹⁴And so fire has gone out from the stem of its branches; its fruit it has consumed, and there was not in it ⌞a strong branch⌟, a scepter for ruling.’ ” This is a lament, and ⌞it will be used as a lament⌟.