The two half-lines of verse 10 say much the same thing. God is compared to a bear and a lion waiting to pounce on their prey, as in Hosea 13.7-8. In Amos 5.18-19 the bear and the lion are used as images of the Day of the LORD. The translation of bear and lion will depend upon familiarity with these two animals. Where they are unknown the translator may substitute local animals, provided they are wild and capable of attacking a person. If no such animals exist, it is always possible to shift to a generic term; for example, “He is like a wild animal that waits for me and pounces on me.” If this solution is still unsatisfactory, the translator may have to drop the simile of the animal attack and say, for example, “He waited for me to attack me. He kept himself in hiding.” In some cases it may be more natural to reverse the order of these two half-lines.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. A Handbook on Lamentations. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .