Lament for the Leaders of Israel

19 “And you, raise a lament about[fn] the leaders of Israel,

• 2 and 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.
  • 3  he became a fierce lion,
• and he learned to tear prey;
  • he ate[fn] humans.[fn]
  • 4  in their pit he was caught,
• and they brought him with hooks
  • to the land of Egypt.
  • 5 [fn] that she was waiting in vain; her hope was destroyed,
• and she took one from her cubs,
  • and she made him a fierce lion.
  • 6  he became a fierce lion,
• and he learned to tear prey;
  • he ate[fn] humans.[fn]
  • 7 [fn] and he devastated their cities,
• and the land was appalled, and[fn]
  • at the sound of his roar.
  • 8 [fn]
• and they spread their net over him,
  • and he was caught in their pit.
  • 9  and they brought him to the king of Babylon;
  • they brought him into[fn] a prison,
• so that his voice would not be heard[fn]
  • on the mountains of Israel.
  • 10 was like the vine in your vineyard;[fn]planted[fn] beside water,
• and it was full of branches
  • from many waters.[fn]
  • 11 [fn] to[fn] scepters of rulers;
• its height became tall
  • between[fn] thick foliage,
• and it was seen[fn] because of its tallness
  • among the abundance of its branches.
  • 12  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.
  • 13 it is planted in the desert, in a[fn]
  • 14 so fire has gone out from the stem of its branches; its fruit it has consumed,
• and there was not in it[fn]
  • a scepter for ruling.’ ”

This is a lament, and it will be used as a lament.[fn]