What was your mother? A lioness!
She lay down among the lions;
she reared her cubs among the young lions.
³ She brought up one of her cubs,
and he became a young lion.^(B)
After he learned to tear prey,
he devoured people.
⁴ When the nations heard about him,
he was caught in their pit.
Then they led him away with hooks
to the land of Egypt.^(C)

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.
⁶ He prowled among the lions,^(D)
and he became a young lion.
After he learned to tear prey,
he devoured people.
⁷ He devastated their strongholds^[a]
and destroyed their cities.
The land and everything in it shuddered
at the sound of his roaring.
⁸ Then the nations from the surrounding provinces
set out against him.^(E)
They spread their net over him;
he was caught in their pit.
⁹ They put a wooden yoke on him^[b] with hooks^(F)
and led him away to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into the fortresses
so his roar could no longer be heard
on the mountains of Israel.^(G)

¹⁰ Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,^[c](H)
planted by the water;
it was fruitful and full of branches^(I)
because of plentiful waters.
¹¹ It had strong branches, fit for the scepters of rulers;
its height towered among the clouds.^[d]
So it was conspicuous for its height
as well as its many branches.
¹² But it was uprooted in fury,^(J)
thrown to the ground,
and the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branches were torn off and dried up;^(K)
fire consumed them.
¹³ Now it is planted in the wilderness,^(L)
in a dry and thirsty land.
¹⁴ Fire has gone out from its main branch^[e]
and has devoured its fruit,
so that it no longer has a strong branch,
a scepter for ruling.^(M)