¹Zvino iwe, imba mariro pamusoro pamachinda aIsiraeri,

¹And thou, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

²uti, Mai vako vaiva aniko? Vaiva shumbakadzi, yaivata pakati peshumba, ichirera vana vayo pakati peshumba duku.

²and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps in the midst of the young lions.

³Zvino yakarera mumwe mwana wayo, ikava shumba duku, ikadzidza kubata zvaingauraya, ikapedza vanhu.

³And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

⁴Marudzi avanhu akainzwawo ikabatwa muhuzha yavo, vakaiisa kunyika yeEgipita.

⁴And the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings into the land of Egypt.

⁵Zvino yakati ichiona kuti yanyengerwa, kuti tariro yanyangarika, ikatorazve mumwe mwana wayo, ikaiita shumba duku.

⁵And when she saw that she had waited [and] her hope was lost, she took another of her whelps, [and] made him a young lion.

⁶Iyo ikafamba-famba pakati peshumba; ikava shumba duku, ikadzidza kubata zvaingauraya, ikapedza vanhu.

⁶And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

⁷Ikaziva dzimba dzavo dzohushe, ikaparadza maguta avo; nyika nezvose zvayo ikava dongo, nokuda kokuwomba kwayo.

⁷And he knew their [desolate] palaces, and he laid waste their cities, so that the land was desolate, and all it contained, by the noise of his roaring.

⁸Ipapo marudzi avanhu venyika dzakapoteredza akarwa nayo, vakakandira mumbure wavo pamusoro payo, ikabatwa muhuzha yavo.

⁸Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

⁹Vakaiisa muchirugu chine zvikokovonho, vakandoiisa kuna mambo weBhabhironi; vakaiisa munhare, kuti inzwi rayo rirege kuzonzwikwa pamakomo alsiraeri.

⁹And they put him in a cage with nose-rings, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰Mai vako vakanga vakaita somuzambiringa, panguva yokuzorora kwako, wakange wakasimwa pamvura;wakabereka zvakanaka, una matavi mazhinji, nokuda kwemvura zhinji.

¹⁰Thy mother was as a vine, in thy rest, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

¹¹Ukava namatanda makobvu okuita tsvimbo dzavaibata hushe, musoro wawo ukakwirira kumusoro pakati pamatavi makobvu, ukaonekwa kumusoro-soro pamwechete namashizha awo mazhinji.

¹¹And it had strong rods for sceptres of them that bear rule, and its stature was exalted between the thick boughs; and it was conspicuous by its height with the multitude of its branches.

¹²Asi wakadzurwa nehasha, ukakandirwa pasi, mhepo inobva mabvazuva ikaomesa michero yawo, matanda awo makobvu akavuniwa, ndokuoma, moto ukaapedza.

¹²But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit; its strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.

¹³Zvino wasimwa murenje, munyika yakaoma ine nyota.

¹³And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground:

¹⁴Moto wabuda padanda ramatavi awo, ukapedza michero yawo, hapachine danda rine simba ringaita tsvimbo yokubata ushe. Awa ndiwo mariro, uye achazova mariro.

¹⁴and a fire is gone out of a rod of its branches, [which] hath devoured its fruit; so that it hath no strong rod to be a sceptre for ruling. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.