| 章 |
| 19:1 |
"Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel
|
| 19:2 |
and say: " `What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among the young lions and reared her cubs.
|
| 19:3 |
She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he devoured men.
|
| 19:4 |
The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
|
| 19:5 |
"`When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion.
|
| 19:6 |
He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he devoured men.
|
| 19:7 |
He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring.
|
| 19:8 |
Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit.
|
| 19:9 |
With 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.
|
| 19:10 |
"`Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water.
|
| 19:11 |
Its 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.
|
| 19:12 |
But 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.
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| 19:13 |
Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land.
|
| 19:14 |
Fire spread from one of its main branches and consumed its fruit. No strong branch is left on it fit for a ruler's scepter. "
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