A Funeral Song for Israel’s Kings
1“Sing this funeral song for the princes of Israel:
2“What is your mother?
A lioness among lions!
She lay down among the young lions
and reared her cubs.
3She raised one of her cubs
to become a strong young lion.
He learned to hunt and devour prey,
and he became a man-eater.
4Then the nations heard about him,
and he was trapped in their pit.
They led him away with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
5“When the lioness saw
that her hopes for him were gone,
she took another of her cubs
and taught him to be a strong young lion.
6He prowled among the other lions
and stood out among them in his strength.
He learned to hunt and devour prey,
and he, too, became a man-eater.
7He demolished fortresses*
and destroyed their towns and cities.
Their farms were desolated,
and their crops were destroyed.
The land and its people trembled in fear
when they heard him roar.
8Then the armies of the nations attacked him,
surrounding him from every direction.
They threw a net over him
and captured him in their pit.
9With hooks, they dragged him into a cage
and brought him before the king of Babylon.
They held him in captivity,
so his voice could never again be heard
on the mountains of Israel.
10“Your mother was like a vine
planted by the water’s edge.
It had lush, green foliage
because of the abundant water.
11Its branches became strong—
strong enough to be a ruler’s scepter.
It grew very tall,
towering above all others.
It stood out because of its height
and its many lush branches.
12But the vine was uprooted in fury
and thrown down to the ground.
The desert wind dried up its fruit
and tore off its strong branches,
so that it withered
and was destroyed by fire.
13Now the vine is transplanted to the wilderness,
where the ground is hard and dry.
14A fire has burst out from its branches
and devoured its fruit.
Its remaining limbs are not
strong enough to be a ruler’s scepter.
“This is a funeral song, and it will be used in a funeral.”