Study

19. Lament for Israel's Princes

   “‘What a lioness was your mother
   among the lions!
She lay down among them
   and reared her cubs.
³ She brought up one of her cubs,
   and he became a strong lion.
He learned to tear the prey
   and he became a man-eater.
⁴ The nations heard about him,
   and he was trapped in their pit.
They led him with hooks
   to the land of Egypt.

    ⁵ “‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled,
   her expectation gone,
she took another of her cubs
   and made him a strong lion.
⁶ He prowled among the lions,
   for he was now a strong lion.
He learned to tear the prey
   and he became a man-eater.
⁷ He broke down Targum (see Septuagint); Hebrew He knew their strongholds
   and devastated their towns.
The land and all who were in it
   were terrified by his roaring.
⁸ Then the nations came against him,
   those from regions round about.
They spread their net for him,
   and he was trapped in their pit.
⁹ With hooks they pulled him into a cage
   and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They put him in prison,
   so his roar was heard no longer
   on the mountains of Israel.

    ¹⁰ “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard Two Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts your blood
   planted by the water;
it was fruitful and full of branches
   because of abundant water.
¹¹ Its branches were strong,
   fit for a ruler’s scepter.
It towered high
   above the thick foliage,
conspicuous for its height
   and for its many branches.
¹² But it was uprooted in fury
   and thrown to the ground.
The east wind made it shrivel,
   it was stripped of its fruit;
its strong branches withered
   and fire consumed them.
¹³ Now it is planted in the desert,
   in a dry and thirsty land.
¹⁴ Fire spread from one of its main Or from under its branches
   and consumed its fruit.
No strong branch is left on it
   fit for a ruler’s scepter.’

   “This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.”