Ezekiel 19

1 Take up now a song of grief for the ruler of Israel, and say,

And thou, lift up a lamentation unto princes 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 hast said: What [is] thy mother? — a lioness, Among lions she hath crouched down, In the midst of young lions she hath multiplied 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 bringeth up one of her whelps, A young lion it hath been, And it learneth to tear prey, man it hath 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.

And hear of it do nations, In their pit it hath been caught, And they bring it in with chains unto 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 seeth, that stayed — perished hath her hope, And she taketh one of her whelps, A young lion she hath made it.

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.

And it goeth up and down in the midst of lions, A young lion it hath been, And it learneth to tear prey, man it hath 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 it knoweth his forsaken habitations, And their cities it hath laid waste, And desolate is the land and its fulness, Because of the voice 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.

And set against it do nations Round about from the provinces. And they spread out for it their net, In their pit it hath been 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 it in prison — in chains, And they bring it unto the king of Babylon, They bring it in unto bulwarks, So that its voice is not heard any more On 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 [is] as a vine in thy blood by waters planted, Fruitful and full of boughs it hath been, Because of many waters.

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 it hath strong rods for sceptres of rulers, And high is its stature above thick branches, And it appeareth in its height In the multitude of its thin shoots.

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.

And it is plucked up in fury, To the earth it hath been cast, And the east wind hath dried up its fruit, Broken and withered hath been the rod of its strength, Fire hath consumed it.

13 And now she is planted in the waste land, in a dry and unwatered country.

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

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 go forth doth fire from a rod of its boughs, Its fruit it hath devoured, And it hath no rod of strength — a sceptre to rule, Lamentation it [is] — and it is for a lamentation!'