1    2   Raise a lament over the princes of Israel and say:

    Your mother was a lioness
      among the lions!
    She made her lair among the young lions
      and many were the cubs she bore.
     3   One of her cubs she raised,
      and he grew into a young lion.
    He learnt to tear his prey,
      he devoured men.
     4   Then the nations shouted at ^note him
      and he was caught in their pit,
  and they dragged him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
   5   His case, she saw, was desperate, her hope was lost;
    so she took another ^note of her cubs
      and made him a young lion.
       6   He prowled among the lions
      and acted like a young lion.
    He learnt to tear his prey,
      he devoured men;
   7   he broke down their palaces, ^note laid their cities in ruins.
      The land and all that was in it
    was aghast at the noise of his roaring.
       8   From the provinces all round
    the nations raised the hue and cry;
    they cast their net over him
      and he was caught in their pit.
     9   With hooks they drew him into a cage
      and brought him to the king of Babylon,
      who flung him into prison,
  that his voice might never again be heard
      on the mountains of Israel.


     10   Your mother was a vine in a vineyard ^note
      planted by the waterside.
    It grew fruitful and luxuriant,
      for there was water in plenty.

Jerusalem's downfall certain
     11   It had stout branches,
      fit to make sceptres for those who bear rule.
  It grew tall, finding its way through the foliage,
  and conspicuous for its height and many trailing boughs.
   12   But it was torn up in anger and thrown to the ground;
    the east wind blighted it,
      its fruit was blown off,
      its strong branches were blighted,
      and fire burnt it.
     13   Now it is replanted in the wilderness,
    in a dry and thirsty land;
     14   and fire bursts forth from its own branches
      and burns up its shoots. ^note
    It has no strong branch any more
      to make a sceptre for those who bear rule.

This is the lament and as a lament it passed into use.

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