Ezekiel 19

1 “And as for you, take up a lament over the leaders of Israel,

And thou, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

2 and you shall say: Why did your mother, the lioness, recline among the male lions, and raise her little ones in the midst of young lions?

and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps in the midst of the young lions.

3 And she led away one of her little ones, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to consume men.

And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

4 And the Gentiles heard about him, and they seized him, but not without receiving wounds. And they led him away in chains to the land of Egypt.

And the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings into the land of Egypt.

5 Then, when she had seen that she was weakened, and that her hope had perished, she took one of her little ones, and appointed him as a lion.

And when she saw that she had waited [and] her hope was lost, she took another of her whelps, [and] made him a young lion.

6 And he advanced among the lions, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to devour men.

And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

7 He learned to make widows, and to lead their citizens into the desert. And the land, with its plenitude, was made desolate by the voice of his roaring.

And he knew their [desolate] palaces, and he laid waste their cities, so that the land was desolate, and all it contained, by the noise of his roaring.

8 And the Gentiles came together against him, on every side, from the provinces, and they spread their net over him; by their wounds, he was captured.

Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

9 And they put him into a cage; they led him in chains to the king of Babylon. And they cast him into a prison, so that his voice would no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

And they put him in a cage with nose-rings, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

10 Your mother is like a vine, in your blood, planted by the water; her fruit and her branches have increased because of many waters.

Thy mother was as a vine, in thy rest, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

11 And her strong branches were made into scepters for the rulers, and her stature was exalted among the branches. And she saw her own loftiness among the multitude of her branches.

And it had strong rods for sceptres of them that bear rule, and its stature was exalted between the thick boughs; and it was conspicuous by its height with the multitude of its branches.

12 But she was uprooted in wrath, and cast upon the ground. And the burning wind dried up her fruit. Her robust branches withered and were dried up. A fire consumed her.

But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit; its strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.

13 And now she has been transplanted into the desert, into a land impassable and dry.

And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground:

14 And a fire has gone forth from a rod of her branches, which has consumed her fruit. And there is no strong branch in her to become a scepter for the rulers. This is a lamentation, and it shall be a lamentation.”

and a fire is gone out of a rod of its branches, [which] hath devoured its fruit; so that it hath no strong rod to be a sceptre for ruling. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.