“ ‘What a lioness was your mother

among the lions!

She lay down among them

and reared her cubs.

3She brought up one of her cubs,

and he became a strong lion.

He learned to tear the prey

and he became a man-eater.

4The nations heard about him,

and he was trapped in their pit.

They led him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

5“ ‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled,

her expectation gone,

she took another of her cubs

and made him a strong lion.

6He prowled among the lions,

for he was now a strong lion.

He learned to tear the prey

and he became a man-eater.

7He broke down ^a their strongholds

and devastated their towns.

The land and all who were in it

were terrified by his roaring.

8Then the nations came against him,

those from regions round about.

They spread their net for him,

and he was trapped in their pit.

9With hooks they pulled him into a cage

and brought him to the king of Babylon.

They put him in prison,

so his roar was heard no longer

on the mountains of Israel.

10“ ‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard ^b

planted by the water;

it was fruitful and full of branches

because of abundant water.

11Its branches were strong,

fit for a ruler’s scepter.

It towered high

above the thick foliage,

conspicuous for its height

and for its many branches.

12But it was uprooted in fury

and thrown to the ground.

The east wind made it shrivel,

it was stripped of its fruit;

its strong branches withered

and fire consumed them.

13Now it is planted in the desert,

in a dry and thirsty land.

14Fire spread from one of its main ^c branches

and consumed its fruit.

No strong branch is left on it

fit for a ruler’s scepter.’