Lament For The Leaders Of Israel
2 And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
2 and say,‘(a)What was your mother?A lioness among lions!She lay down among young lions,She reared her cubs.
2 and say:What was your mother? A lioness!She lay down among the lions;she reared her cubs among the young lions.
2 Tell them: "What a lioness your mother was among lions! She reared her cubs in the midst of fierce young males.
2 and say,‘What was your mother [Jerusalem and Judah]?A lioness among lions!She lay down among young lions,She reared her cubs.
3 And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
3 ‘When she brought up one of her cubs,He became a lion,And he learned to tear his prey;He devoured men.
3 She brought up one of her cubs,and he became a young lion.(B)After he learned to tear prey,he devoured people.
3 She raised one cub in particular, teaching that fierce lion to become a hunter-prowler to eat human beings.
4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.
4 ‘Then nations heard about him;He was captured in their pit,And they (C)brought him with hooksTo the land of Egypt.
4 When the nations heard about him,he was caught in their pit.Then they led him away with hooksto the land of Egypt.(C)
4 The nations heard about him. He had become caught in their trap. They brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5 Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.
5 ‘When she saw, as she waited,That her hope was lost,She took (b)another of her cubsAnd made him a young lion.
5 When she saw that she waited in vain,that her hope was lost,she took another of her cubsand made him a young lion.
5 When she learned that her plans had been frustrated and that her hopes were dashed, she took another of her cubs and turned him into a fierce lion.
6 And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.
6 ‘And he (D)walked about among the lions;He became a young lion,He learned to tear his prey;He devoured men.
6 He prowled among the lions,(D)and he became a young lion.After he learned to tear prey,he devoured people.
6 He prowled around among the lions, became a strong, young lion, and learned to become a hunter-prowler to eat human beings.
6 ‘And he moved among the lions;He became a young lion,He learned to tear the prey;He devoured men.
7 And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.
7 ‘He (c)destroyed their (d)fortified towersAnd laid waste their cities;And the land and its fullness were appalledBecause of the sound of his roaring.
7 He devastated their strongholds(a)and destroyed their cities.The land and everything in it shudderedat the sound of his roaring.
7 He raped the women, devastating their towns. The land was made desolate, and all the while the land was filled with the sound of his roaring.
7 ‘He destroyed their palacesAnd he flattened their cities;And the land and all who were in it were appalledBy the sound of his roaring.
8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.
8 ‘Then (E)nations set against himOn every side from their provinces,And they spread their net over him;He was captured in their pit.
8 Then the nations from the surrounding provincesset out against him.(E)They spread their net over him;he was caught in their pit.
8 The surrounding nations attacked. They tossed their net over him, and he was caught in their trap.
9 And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
9 ‘(F)They put him in a cage with hooksAnd (G)brought him to the king of Babylon;They brought him in hunting netsSo that his voice would be heard no moreOn the mountains of Israel.
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 fortressesso his roar could no longer be heardon the mountains of Israel.(G)
9 They imprisoned him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babel. Then they placed him in their dungeon where his voice would no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.
9 ‘They put him in a cage with hooks and chainsAnd brought him to the king of Babylon;They brought him in hunting netsSo that his voice would be heard no moreOn the mountains of Israel.
10 Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
10 ‘Your mother was (H)like a vine in your (e)vineyard,Planted by the waters;It was fruitful and full of branchesBecause of abundant waters.
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.
10 "Your mother was like a vine entwining a pomegranate, planted by water, full of fruit, and full of branches because it had been watered generously.
11 And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.
11 ‘And it had (f)(I)strong branches fit for scepters of rulers,And its (J)height was raised above the cloudsSo that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
11 It had strong branches, fit for the scepters of rulers;its height towered among the clouds.(d)So it was conspicuous for its heightas well as its many branches.
11 Strong were its boughs, suitable for use in the scepter of a ruler. It reached to the clouds, noticeable because of its height and its abundant branches.
11 ‘And it had strong branches for the scepters of rulers,And its height was raised above the thick branches and into the cloudsSo that it was seen [easily] in its height with the mass of its branches.
12 But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.
12 ‘But it was (K)plucked up in fury;It was (L)cast down to the ground;And the (M)east wind dried up its fruit.Its (g)(N)strong branch (h)was torn offSo that (i)it withered;The fire consumed it.
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.
12 Yet in anger it was uprooted and cast down to the earth. An east wind desiccated its fruit; its strong branches broke off and withered, and a fire consumed them.
12 ‘But the vine was uprooted in [godly] wrath [by His representative]And it was thrown down to the ground;The east wind dried up its fruit.Its strong branch was broken offSo that it withered;The fire [of God’s judgment] consumed it.
14 And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.
14 ‘And (P)fire has gone out from its branch;It has consumed its shoots and fruit,So that there is not in it a (j)strong branch,A scepter to rule.’”This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.
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)This is a lament and should be used as a lament.”
14 Fire had burned through its branches, consuming its shoots and fruits. No strong branches remain in it, and there is no scepter to rule!' "This is a lamentation, and it is to be used in mourning."
14 ‘And the fire [of Zedekiah’s rebellion] has gone out from its branch;It has consumed the vine’s shoots and fruit,So that it has in it no [longer a] strong branchAs a scepter to rule.’”This is a dirge (funeral poem to be sung), and has become a dirge.