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“Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel
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and say: “‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among them and reared her cubs.
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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.
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The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They let him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
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“‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation goen, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion.
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He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.
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He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring.
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Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit.
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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.
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“‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water.
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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.
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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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Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land.
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Fire spread from one of its main branches and consumed its fruit. No strong branch is left on it fir for a ruler’s scepter.’ “This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.”
