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 And she raised up one from her cubs;
  • he became a fierce lion,
• and he learned to tear prey;
  • he ate[fn] humans.[fn]
• 4 And nations heard about him;
  • in their pit he was caught,
• and they brought him with hooks
  • to the land of Egypt.
• 5 And she saw[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 And he walked about in the midst of lions;
  • he became a fierce lion,
• and he learned to tear prey;
  • he ate[fn] humans.[fn]
• 7 And he knew their widows,[fn]
  • and he devastated their cities,
• and the land was appalled, and everyone in it[fn]
  • at the sound of his roar.
• 8 And nations set out against him
  • from the surrounding provinces ,[fn]
• and they spread their net over him,
  • and he was caught in their pit.
• 9 And they put him in a collar with hooks,
  • and they brought him to the king of Babylon;
  • they brought him into[fn] a prison,
• so that his voice would not be heard any longer[fn]
  • on the mountains of Israel.
• 10 Your mother was like the vine in your vineyard;[fn]
  • planted fruitfully[fn] beside water,
• and it was full of branches
  • from many waters.[fn]
• 11 And she produced branches of strength[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 But 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.
• 13 And now it is planted in the desert,
  • in a dry and thirsty land .[fn]
• 14 And 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 ,[fn]
  • a scepter for ruling.’ ”

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