Ezekiel 19

1 “As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel

“And you, lift up a lamentation to princes of Israel,

2 and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs.

and you have said: What [is] your mother? A lioness, She has crouched down among lions, She has multiplied her whelps in the midst of young lions.

3 She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a young lion. After learning to tear his prey, he devoured men.

And she brings up one of her whelps, He has been a young lion, And he learns to tear prey, He has devoured man.

4 When the nations heard of him, he was trapped in their pit. With hooks they led him away to the land of Egypt.

And nations hear of him, He has been caught in their pit, And they bring him to the land of Egypt in chains.

5 When she saw that she had waited in vain, that her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.

And as she waited she sees that her hope has perished, And she takes one of her whelps, She has made him a young lion.

6 He prowled among the lions, and became a young lion. After learning to tear his prey, he devoured men.

And he goes up and down in the midst of lions, He has been a young lion, And he learns to tear prey, He has devoured man.

7 He broke down their strongholds and devastated their cities. The land and everything in it shuddered at the sound of his roaring.

And he knows his forsaken habitations, And he has laid waste [to] their cities, And the land and its fullness is desolate, Because of the voice of his roaring.

8 Then the nations set out against him from the provinces on every side. They spread their net over him; he was trapped in their pit.

And surrounding nations set against him from the provinces. And they spread out their net for him, He has been caught in their pit.

9 With hooks they caged him and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into captivity so that his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel.

And they put him in prison—in chains, And they bring him to the king of Babylon, They bring him into bulwarks, So that his voice is not heard On mountains of Israel anymore.

10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundant waters.

Your mother, like the vine in your blood, Is being planted by waters, She was bearing fruit and full of boughs, Because of many waters.

11 It had strong branches, fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick branches, conspicuous for its height and for its dense foliage.

And she has strong rods for scepters of rulers, And she is high in stature above—between thick branches, And it appears in its height In the multitude of its thin shoots.

12 But it was uprooted in fury, cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were stripped off and they withered; the fire consumed them.

And she is plucked up in fury, She has been cast to the earth, And the east wind has dried up her fruit, [The] rod of her strength has been broken and withered, Fire has consumed it.

13 Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

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

14 Fire has gone out from its main branch and devoured its fruit; on it no strong branch remains fit for a ruler’s scepter.’ This is a lament and shall be used as a lament.”

And fire goes forth from a rod of her boughs, It has devoured her fruit, And she has no rod of strength—a scepter to rule, A lamentation—and she has become for a lamentation!”