9 ^aThey put him in a cage with¹ chains,
And brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in nets,
That his voice should no longer be heard on ^bthe mountains of Israel. ‡

10 ‘Your mother was ^alike a vine in your bloodline,
Planted by the waters,
^bFruitful and full of branches
Because of many waters. ‡

11 She had strong branches for scepters of rulers.
^aShe towered in stature above the thick branches,
And was seen in her height amid the¹ dense foliage. ‡

12 But she was ^aplucked up in fury,
She was cast down to the ground,
And the ^beast wind dried her fruit.
Her strong branches were broken and withered;
The fire consumed them. ‡

13 And now she is planted in the wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.

14 ^aFire has come out from a rod of her branches
And devoured her fruit,
So that she has no strong branch— a scepter for ruling.’ ” ^bThis is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation. ‡