¹ “Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel ² and say: “‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among them and reared her cubs. ³ She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater. ⁴ The 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. ⁶ He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater. ⁷ He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring. ⁸ Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit.