19:1 And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 19:2 and say: What was your mother A lioness! Among lions she crouched; in the midst of young lions she reared her cubs. 19:3 And she brought up one of her cubs; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men. 19:4 The nations heard about him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. 19:5 When she saw that she waited in vain, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. 19:6 He prowled among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch prey; he devoured men, 19:7 and seized their widows. He laid waste their cities, and the land was appalled and all who were in it at the sound of his roaring. 19:8 Then the nations set against him from provinces on every side; they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit. 19:9 With hooks they put him in a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into custody, that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel. 19:10 Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard planted by the water, fruitful and full of branches by reason of abundant water. 19:11 Its strong stems became rulers' scepters; it towered aloft among the thick boughs; it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches. 19:12 But the vine was plucked up in fury, cast down to the ground; the east wind dried up its fruit; they were stripped off and withered. As for its strong stem, fire consumed it. 19:13 Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. 19:14 And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots, has consumed its fruit, so that there remains in it no strong stem, no scepter for ruling. This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.