## A Lament for the Princes of Israel 

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"As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel 

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and say, 'What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions; She reared her cubs. 

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So she brought up one of her cubs; He became a lion, And he learned to tear _his_ prey; He devoured men. 

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Then nations heard about him; He was captured in their pit, And they brought him with hooks To the land of Egypt. 

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Then she saw, as she waited, _That_ her hope was lost, So she took another of her cubs And made him a young lion. 

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And he walked about among the lions; He became a young lion; He learned to tear _his_ prey; He devoured men. 

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He knew _how to destroy_ their fortified towers And laid waste their cities; And the land was in desolation, as well as its fullness Because of the sound of his roaring. 

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Then nations put _themselves_ against him All around from _their_ provinces, And they spread their net over him; He was captured in their pit. 

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They put him in a cage with hooks And brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in hunting nets So that his voice would be heard no more On the mountains of Israel. 

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Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, Planted by the waters; It was fruitful and full of branches Because of abundant waters. 

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And it had strong thick branches _fit_ for scepters of rulers, And its height was exalted above the clouds So that it was seen in its exaltedness with the mass of its foliage. 

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But it was uprooted in wrath; It was cast down to the ground; And the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong thick branch was torn off So that it dried up; The fire consumed it. 

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So now it is planted in the wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land. 

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And fire has gone out from _its_ thick branch; It has consumed its shoots _and_ fruit, So that there is not in it a strong thick branch, A scepter to rule.'" This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.