1 Israel Degraded “Moreover Ezek. 26:17; 27:2 take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 and say: ‘What is your mother? A lioness: She lay down among the lions; Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.
3 She brought up one of her cubs, And Ezek. 19:2;2 Kin. 23:31, 32 he became a young lion; He learned to catch prey, And he devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him; He was trapped in their pit, And they brought him with chains to the land of 2 Kin. 23:33, 34;2 Chr. 36:4 Egypt.
5 ‘When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost, She took 2 Kin. 23:34 another of her cubs and made him a young lion.
6 2 Kin. 24:8, 9 He roved among the lions, And Ezek. 19:3 became a young lion; He learned to catch prey; He devoured men.
7 He knew their desolate places, And laid waste their cities; The land with its fullness was desolated By the noise of his roaring.
8 2 Kin. 24:2, 11 Then the nations set against him from the provinces on every side, And spread their net over him; Ezek. 19:4 He was trapped in their pit.
9 2 Chr. 36:6; Jer. 22:18 They put him in a cage with chains, And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in nets, That his voice should no longer be heard on Ezek. 6:2 the mountains of Israel.
10 ‘Your mother was Ezek. 17:6 like a vine in your bloodline, Planted by the waters, Deut. 8:7–9 Fruitful and full of branches Because of many waters.
11 She had strong branches for scepters of rulers. Ezek. 31:3; Dan. 4:11 She towered in stature above the thick branches, And was seen in her height amid the dense foliage.
12 But she was Jer. 31:27, 28 plucked up in fury, She was cast down to the ground, And the Ezek. 17:10; Hos. 13:5 east wind dried her fruit. Her strong branches were broken and withered; The fire consumed them.
13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land.
14 Judg. 9:15;2 Kin. 24:20; Ezek. 17:18 Fire has come out from a rod of her branches And devoured her fruit, So that she has no strong branch— a scepter for ruling.’ ” Lam. 2:5 This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.