2‘[258]What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions, She raised her cubs.
3When she brought up one of her cubs, He became a young lion, And he learned to tear his prey; He devoured people.
4Then nations heard about him; He was caught in their trap, And they brought him with hooks To the land of Egypt.
5When she saw, as she waited, That her hope was lost, She took [259]another of her cubs And made him a young lion.
6And he walked about among the lions, He became a young lion; He learned to tear his prey; He devoured people.
7He [260]destroyed their [261]palaces And laid waste their cities; And the land and its fullness were appalled Because of the sound of his roaring.
8Then nations set against him On every side from their provinces, And they spread their net over him; He was caught in their trap.
9They put him in a [262]wooden collar with hooks And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in hunting nets So that his voice would no longer be heard On the mountains of Israel.
10Your mother was like a vine in your [263]vineyard, Planted by the waters; It was fruitful and thick with branches Because of abundant waters.
11And it had [264]strong stems fit for scepters of rulers, And its height was raised above the clouds So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
12But it was uprooted in fury; It was thrown down to the ground; And the east wind dried up its fruit. [265]Its strong stem [266]was torn out So that [267]it withered; The fire consumed it.
13And now it is planted in the wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land.
14And fire has gone out from its stem; It has consumed its shoots and fruit, So that there is no [268]strong stem in it, A scepter to rule.’ ”