"Sing this funeral song for the princes of Israel:
`What is your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among the young lions and reared her cubs.
She raised one of her cubs to become a strong young lion. He learned to catch and devour prey, and he became a man-eater.
Then the nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him away in chains to the land of Egypt.
`When the mother lion saw that all her hopes for him were gone, she took another of her cubs and taught him to be a strong lion.
He prowled among the other lions and became a leader among them. He learned to catch and devour prey, and he, too, became a man-eater.
He demolished fortresses in nearby nations and destroyed their towns and cities. Their farms were desolated, and their crops were destroyed. Everyone in the land trembled in fear when they heard him roar.
Then the armies of the nations attacked him, surrounding him from every direction. They spread out their nets for him and captured him in their pit.
With 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.
`Your mother was like a vine planted by the water's edge. It had lush, green foliage because of the abundant water.
Its branches became very strong, strong enough to be a ruler's scepter. It soon became very tall, towering above all the others. It stood out because of its height and because of its many lush branches.
But the vine was uprooted in fury and thrown down to the ground. The desert wind dried up its fruit and tore off its branches. Its stem was destroyed by fire.
Now the vine is growing in the wilderness, where the ground is hard and dry.
A fire has come from its branches and devoured its fruit. None of the remaining limbs is strong enough to be a ruler's scepter.' This is a funeral song, and it is now time for the funeral."