Your mother was like a lioness.

She lay down among the lions.

She fed many cubs.

3 One of the cubs she raised became a young lion.

He learned to tear apart the animals he hunted.

He ate people.

4 The nations heard about him,

caught him in their pit,

and brought him with hooks to Egypt.

5 The lioness waited until she saw that there was no more hope.

Then she took another one of her cubs

and raised him into a young lion.

6 He became a young lion, and he prowled among the lions.

He learned to tear apart the animals he hunted.

He ate people.

7 He destroyed fortresses

and turned cities into wastelands.

The land and everyone living in it

were terrified by the sound of his roar.

8 The nations from every region came together against him.

They spread their net over him

and caught him in their pit.

9 With hooks they put him in a cage

and brought him to the king of Babylon.

They put him in prison

so that his roar wouldn’t be heard anymore

on the mountains of Israel.

10 Your mother was like a grapevine

that was planted near water.

It had a lot of fruit and many branches

because there was plenty of water.

11 Its branches were strong.

They were used to make scepters for kings.

It grew to be tall with many branches around it,

and everyone saw it because of its many branches.

12 But in anger it was uprooted and thrown to the ground.

The east wind dried up its fruit.

Its strong branches broke off.

They withered and were burned.

13 Now it is planted in the desert,

in a dry and waterless land.

14 Fire has spread from the vine’s main branch.

Fire has destroyed its fruit.

It no longer has any strong branches

that could be used as a king’s scepter.