19 Now sing a mournful song for Yisrael’s (Israel’s) leaders, 2 saying:

‘Who was your mother? A lioness—she lived with a lion’s son.

There among the young lions, she reared her cubs.

3 She’s the one who raised one of her cubs to become a young lion—

a lion who learned to tear apart his victims,

and then he devoured people.

4 Then the nations heard about him.

He got caught in their trap,

and they took him to Mitsrayim (Egypt) with hooks.

5 The mother lion waited for his return,

but eventually she realised that he wasn’t coming back,

so she took another one of her cubs and made him into a young lion.

6 This young lion roamed around amongst the other lions.

He was a young lion and learned to tear his victims—

he devoured people.

7 He seized their fortresses and ruined their cities.

The land and its produce were abandoned

because of the sound of his roaring.

8 But the nations came against him from the surrounding provinces.

They spread their nets over him—

he was caught in their pit.

9 With hooks in him, they put him in a cage,

and then they took him to the Babylonian king.

They took him to the fortresses

so that his voice would no longer be heard in Yisrael’s (Israel’s) hills.

10 Your mother was like a vine planted in your vineyard beside the water.

It was fruitful and full of branches because there was plenty of water.

11 It had strong branches that were used for making rulers’ scepters,

and it towered above the branches,

and its height could be seen due to the mass of its foliage.

12 But the vine was uprooted in fury and thrown down onto the ground,

and an eastern wind dried out its fruit.

Its strong branches were broken off and withered,

and then burnt in a fire.

13 So now it’s planted in the wilderness—

in a land of drought and thirst.

14 Fire went out from its large branches and consumed its fruit.

There’s no strong branches left on it—no scepter for ruling with.’

That’s a song for mourning, and should be sung as such.”