Daily Bread

“‘What a lioness^(C) was your mother
    among the lions!
She lay down among them
    and reared her cubs.^(D)
3 She brought up one of her cubs,
    and he became a strong lion.
He learned to tear the prey
    and he became a man-eater.
⁴ The nations heard about him,
    and he was trapped in their pit.
They led him with hooks^(E)
    to the land of Egypt.^(F)

⁵ “‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled,
    her expectation gone,
she took another of her cubs^(G)
    and made him a strong lion.^(H)
6 He prowled among the lions,
    for he was now a strong lion.
He learned to tear the prey
    and he became a man-eater.^(I)
7 He broke down^[a] their strongholds
    and devastated^(J) their towns.
The land and all who were in it
    were terrified by his roaring.
⁸ Then the nations^(K) came against him,
    those from regions round about.
They spread their net^(L) for him,
    and he was trapped in their pit.^(M)
9 With hooks^(N) they pulled him into a cage
    and brought him to the king of Babylon.^(O)
They put him in prison,
    so his roar^(P) was heard no longer
    on the mountains of Israel.^(Q)

¹⁰ “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard^[b](R)
    planted by the water;^(S)
it was fruitful and full of branches
    because of abundant water.^(T)
11 Its branches were strong,
    fit for a ruler’s scepter.
It towered high
    above the thick foliage,
conspicuous for its height
    and for its many branches.^(U)
12 But it was uprooted^(V) in fury
    and thrown to the ground.
The east wind^(W) made it shrivel,
    it was stripped of its fruit;
its strong branches withered
    and fire consumed them.^(X)
13 Now it is planted in the desert,^(Y)
    in a dry and thirsty land.^(Z)
14 Fire spread from one of its main^[c] branches
    and consumed^(AA) its fruit.
No strong branch is left on it
    fit for a ruler’s scepter.’^(AB)