Thomson(i)
2 and thou shalt say, What was thy mother? She was a lioness among lions. In the midst of lions she multiplied her young.
3 And one of her young lions sallied forth; he became a lion and learned to prowl. He devoured men
4 and the nations heard of him; in their trap he was taken and carried in a cage to the land of Egypt.
5 When she saw that her main support was removed from her, was lost; she took another of her young lions and made him lion.
6 And he roamed about among lions. He became a lion and learned to seize prey. He devoured men
7 and prowled with fierceness, and made their cities a desolation and laid waste the land, and the fulness thereof by the sound of his roaring.
8 Then the nations set upon him from the countries around: they spread their nets for him; in their trap he was taken.
9 So they chained him and in a cage he came to the king of Babylon, who put him in prison that his voice should not be heard on the mountains of Israel.
10 Thy mother was like a vine or a flowery pomegranate planted by water. It was fruitful and full of buds by being plentifully watered.
11 And it became a sceptre for them who bear rule over tribes, and became distinguished for its greatness among other stocks, and was conscious of its greatness by the multitude of its branches.
12 But it is broken in wrath and thrown on the ground; and a burning wind hath blasted its choice branches. Vengeance hath been taken on them: and the rod of its strength is withered; a fire hath consumed it.
13 And now when they had planted it in a desert, in a land without water,
14 a fire hath issued forth from a rod of her choice shoots, and consumed her and she hath no more in her a sceptre of power. The tribe is become a parable in the song of Woe and shall be for a subject of lamentation.