2  and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps in the midst of the young lions. 3  And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men. 4  And the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings into the land of Egypt. 5  And when she saw that she had waited and her hope was lost, she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion. 6  And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey; he devoured men. 7  And 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. 8  Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit. 9  And 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.