Ezekiel 19
1 “And as for you, take up a lament over the leaders of Israel,
Thou. therefore take up a dirge, for the prince 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 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 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 reared up one of her whelps— A young lion, he became, And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured.
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.
Then nations heard of him. In their pit, was he caught, — So they brought him with hooks. 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 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 advanced among the lions, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to devour men.
Yea he went to and fro amidst lions A young lion, he became, - And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured;
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 injured his widows, And their cities, laid waste, - And deserted was the land and its fulness, At 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 set upon him the nations round about. From the provinces, - And spread over him their net In their pit, was he caught;
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 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 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] like a vine of thy vineyard, By waters, was planted, — Fruitful and full of branches, she became By reason of waters abundant;
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 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 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.
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 has been transplanted into the desert, into a land impassable and dry.
Now, therefore, is she planted in a desert, -In a land parched and dry;
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 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.
