“And as for you, take up a lament over the leaders of Israel
and you shall say: Why did your mother, the lioness, recline among the male lions, and raise her little ones in the midst of young lions
And she led away one of her little ones, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to consume men
And the Gentiles heard about him, and they seized him, but not without receiving wounds. And they led him away in chains to the land of Egypt
Then, when she had seen that she was weakened, and that her hope had perished, she took one of her little ones, and appointed him as a lion
And he advanced among the lions, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to devour men
He learned to make widows, and to lead their citizens into the desert. And the land, with its plenitude, was made desolate by the voice of his roaring
And the Gentiles came together against him, on every side, from the provinces, and they spread their net over him; by their wounds, he was captured
And they put him into a cage; they led him in chains to the king of Babylon. And they cast him into a prison, so that his voice would no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel
Your mother is like a vine, in your blood, planted by the water; her fruit and her branches have increased because of many waters
And her strong branches were made into scepters for the rulers, and her stature was exalted among the branches. And she saw her own loftiness among the multitude of her branches
But she was uprooted in wrath, and cast upon the ground. And the burning wind dried up her fruit. Her robust branches withered and were dried up. A fire consumed her
And now she has been transplanted into the desert, into a land impassable and dry
And a fire has gone forth from a rod of her branches, which has consumed her fruit. And there is no strong branch in her to become a scepter for the rulers. This is a lamentation, and it shall be a lamentation.