Ezekiel 19
1 Take up now a song of grief for the ruler of Israel, and say,
Thou. therefore take up a dirge, for the prince of Israel;
2 What was your mother? Like a she-lion among lions, stretched out among the young lions she gave food to her little ones.
and thou shalt say— How was thy mother a lioness, Between lions, she lay down, - In the midst of young lions, She nourished her whelps;
3 And one of her little ones came to growth under her care, and became a young lion, learning to go after beasts for his food; and he took men for his meat.
And she reared up one of her whelps— A young lion, he became, And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured.
4 And the nations had news of him; he was taken in the hole they had made: and, pulling him with hooks, they took him into the land of Egypt.
Then nations heard of him. In their pit, was he caught, — So they brought him with hooks. Into the land of Egypt.
5 Now when she saw that her hope was made foolish and gone, she took another of her little ones and made him into a young lion.
And she saw she had waited Lost was her hope, Then took she another of her whelps. A young lion, she made him.
6 And he went up and down among the lions and became a young lion, learning to go after beasts for his food; and he took men for his meat.
Yea he went to and fro amidst lions A young lion, he became, - And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured;
7 And he sent destruction on their widows and made waste their towns; and the land and everything in it became waste because of the loud sound of his voice.
And he injured his widows, And their cities, laid waste, - And deserted was the land and its fulness, At the noise of his roaring.
8 Then the nations came against him from the kingdoms round about: their net was stretched over him and he was taken in the hole they had made.
Then set upon him the nations round about. From the provinces, - And spread over him their net In their pit, was he caught;
9 They made him a prisoner with hooks, and took him to the king of Babylon; they put him in the strong place so that his voice might be sounding no longer on the mountains of Israel.
And they put him in a cage with hooks, And brought him to Babylon’s king, — They brought him into strong-holds, That his noise might be heard no more Among the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was in comparison like a vine, planted by the waters: she was fertile and full of branches because of the great waters.
Thy mother [was] like a vine of thy vineyard, By waters, was planted, — Fruitful and full of branches, she became By reason of waters abundant;
11 And she had a strong rod for a rod of authority for the rulers, and it became tall among the clouds and it was seen lifted up among the number of its branches.
And they served her as staves of power For the sceptres of rulers, And high became the stature thereof With its interwoven foliage, - And it was seen by its height, By its multitude of branches.
12 But she was uprooted in burning wrath, and made low on the earth; the east wind came, drying her up, and her branches were broken off; her strong rod became dry, the fire made a meal of it.
Then was she uprooted in indignation To the ground, was she cast, And an east wind, dried up her fruit, —Broken off and withered were her staves of power, A fire, devoured them.
13 And now she is planted in the waste land, in a dry and unwatered country.
Now, therefore, is she planted in a desert, -In a land parched and dry;
14 And fire has gone out from her rod, causing the destruction of her branches, so that there is no strong rod in her to be the ruler's rod of authority. This is a song of grief, and it was for a song of grief.
And there hath gone forth a fire out of her staves of rods. Her fruit, hath it devoured, And there is in her no staff of power. As a sceptre to bear rule. A dirge, it is, and hath been made a dirge.
