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¹ Thou. therefore take up a dirge, for the prince of Israel;² and thou shalt say - How was thy mother a lioness, Between lions, she lay down,- I n the midst of young lions, She nourished her whelps;³ And she reared up one of her whelps - A young lion, he became, And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured.⁴ Then nations heard of him. In their pit, was he caught, - So they brought him with hooks. Into the land of Egypt.⁵ And she saw she had waited Lost was her hope, Then took she another of her whelps. A young lion, she made him.⁶ Yea he went to and fro amidst lions A young lion, he became,- And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured;⁷ And he injured b his widows, And their cities, laid waste,- And deserted was the land and its fulness, At the noise of his roaring.⁸ Then set upon him the nations round about. From the provinces,- And spread over him their net In their pit, was he caught;⁹ And they put him in a cage with hooks, And brought him to Babylon's king, - They brought him into strong-holds, That his noise might be heard no more Among the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰ Thy mother was like a vine of thy vineyard, By waters, was planted, - Fruitful and full of branches, she became By reason of waters abundant;¹¹ And they served her as staves of power For the sceptres of rulers, And high became the stature thereof With its interwoven foliage,- And it was seen by its height, By its multitude of branches.¹² Then was she uprooted in indignation To the ground, was she east, And an east wind, dried up her fruit, - Broken off and withered were her staves of power, A fire, devoured them.¹³ Now, therefore, is she planted in a desert, -In a land parched and dry;¹⁴ And there hath gone forth a fire out of her staves of rods. Her fruit, hath it devoured, And there is in her no staff of power. As a sceptre to bear rule. A dirge, it is, and hath been made a dirge.