Kingly Power Abused
1 “Moreover, take up a lamentation for the leaders of Israel, 2 and say,
‘What was your mother?
A lioness! She couched among lions.
In the midst of the young lions,
she nourished her cubs.
3 She brought up one of her cubs,
and he became a young lion.
He learned to catch prey,
and he devoured men.
4 When the nations heard of him,
he was taken in their pit.
They brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
5 Now when the lioness saw
that she had waited in vain,
and her hope was lost,
then she took another of her cubs
and appointed him a strong, young lion.
6 He prowled with the lions,
and he became a young lion.
He learned to catch prey,
and he devoured men.
7 He knew their palaces
and laid waste their cities.
The land, in its fullness,
became desolate
at the sound of his roar.
8 Then the nations set against him
from the provinces on every side.
They spread their net over him.
He was taken in their pit.
9 They put him in a cage with hooks
and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into captivity
so that his voice could no longer be heard
on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
planted by the waters.
It was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundance of water.
11 It had strong branches for the scepters of those who ruled.
Their stature was exalted among the thick boughs.
They were seen in their height
with the multitude of their branches.
12 But it was plucked up in fury.
It was cast down to the ground,
and the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branches were broken off and withered.
The fire consumed them.
13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire has gone out of its branches.
It has devoured its fruit
so that there is in it no strong branch to be a scepter to rule.’
This is a lamentation and shall be used as a lament.”