“‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, ¹  planted by water. It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.

But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground. The east wind ¹  dried up its fruit; its strong branches broke off and withered – a fire consumed them.

A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit. ¹  No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’ This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”

“‘Say to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘Will it prosper? Will he not rip out its roots and cause its fruit to rot ¹  and wither? All its foliage ²  will wither. No strong arm or large army will be needed to pull it out by its roots. ³