1 O Senhor Deus me mandou cantar uma canção de tristeza a respeito de dois reis de Israel:
2 Que leoa era a sua mãe !
Ela andava com o bando
e criava os filhotes no meio dos leões.
3 Ela criou um filhote
e o ensinou a caçar,
e ele se tornou um devorador de gente.
4 As nações ouviram falar dele
e o apanharam numa cova.
Puseram uma argola no nariz dele
e o arrastaram para o Egito.
5 A leoa viu que as suas esperanças estavam perdidas.
Aí criou outro filhote ,
e ele se tornou um leão feroz.
6 Quando já estava crescido,
andava com os outros leões.
Aprendeu a caçar
e se tornou um devorador de gente.
7 Destruiu fortalezas e arrasou cidades.
Cada vez que ele rugia,
o povo da sua terra tremia de medo.
8 Os povos se reuniram para combatê-lo;
veio gente de todos os lados.
Estenderam as suas redes de caça
e o pegaram na armadilha.
9 Puseram uma argola no nariz dele
e o puxaram para dentro de uma gaiola;
então o levaram para o rei da Babilônia.
Eles o deixaram preso
para que nunca mais se ouvisse o seu rugido nos montes de Israel.
10 Israelitas, a mãe de vocês era como uma parreira
plantada perto de um ribeirão.
Ela estava cheia de galhos
e produzia muitas uvas
porque havia bastante água.
11 Os seus galhos eram fortes
e cresceram até se tornarem cetros reais.
A parreira cresceu tanto,
que os seus galhos chegaram até as nuvens;
todos viram como era alta
e cheia de galhos.
12 Porém mãos furiosas a arrancaram pela raiz
e a jogaram no chão.
O vento leste secou as suas uvas.
Os seus galhos foram quebrados;
eles secaram e foram queimados.
13 Agora, a parreira está plantada no deserto,
numa terra seca e sem água.
14 O seu tronco pegou fogo;
o fogo destruiu os seus galhos e as uvas.
Os seus galhos nunca mais serão fortes,
nunca mais serão cetros reais.
Esta é uma canção de tristeza que tem sido cantada muitas vezes.
1 Thou. therefore take up a dirge, for the prince of Israel;
2 and thou shalt say How was thy mother a lioness, Between lions, she lay down,- I n the midst of young lions, She nourished her whelps;
3 And she reared up one of her whelps A young lion, he became, And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured.
4 Then nations heard of him. In their pit, was he caught, So they brought him with hooks. Into the land of Egypt.
5 And she saw she had waited Lost was her hope, Then took she another of her whelps. A young lion, she made him.
6 Yea he went to and fro amidst lions A young lion, he became,- And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured;
7 And he injured b his widows, And their cities, laid waste,- And deserted was the land and its fulness, At the noise of his roaring.
8 Then set upon him the nations round about. From the provinces,- And spread over him their net In their pit, was he caught;
9 And they put him in a cage with hooks, And brought him to Babylons king, They brought him into strong-holds, That his noise might be heard no more Among the mountains of Israel.
10 Thy mother like a vine of thy vineyard, By waters, was planted, Fruitful and full of branches, she became By reason of waters abundant;
11 And they served her as staves of power For the sceptres of rulers, And high became the stature thereof With its interwoven foliage,- And it was seen by its height, By its multitude of branches.
12 Then was she uprooted in indignation To the ground, was she east, And an east wind, dried up her fruit,Broken off and withered were her staves of power, A fire, devoured them.
13 Now, therefore, is she planted in a desert, -In a land parched and dry;
14 And there hath gone forth a fire out of her staves of rods. Her fruit, hath it devoured, And there is in her no staff of power. As a sceptre to bear rule. A dirge, it is, and hath been made a dirge.