Ezekiel 19

1 Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

你應為以色列的君王唱一篇哀歌，

2 And say: Why did thy mother the lioness lie down among the lions, and bring up her whelps in the midst of young lions?

說：「你的母親原像什麼﹖她像群獅中的一隻牝獅，臥在壯獅中養大了幼獅。

3 And she brought out one of her whelps, and he became a lion: and he learned to catch the prey, and to devour men.

牠養大了一隻幼小的。牠就長成了壯獅，學會了撕裂獵物，吞噬人類。

4 And the nations heard of him, and took him, but not without receiving wounds: and they brought him in chains into the land of Egypt.

列國於是下令追捕牠，牠遂在她們所設的陷阱中被捕，人便用鼻環把牠牽到埃及地。

5 But she seeing herself weakened, and that her hope was lost, took one of her young lions, and set him up for a lion.

母獅見自己所等待的，所希望的落了空，就另取了一隻幼獅，使牠成為壯獅。

6 And he went up and down among the lions, and became a lion: and he learned to catch the prey, and to devour men.

牠在群獅中徘徊，成了壯獅，學會了撕裂獵物，吞噬人類。

7 He learned to make widows, and to lay waste their cities: and the land became desolate, and the fulness thereof by the noise of his roaring.

牠把裂物帶到自己的穴中，恐嚇羊群，那地方和居民對牠的吼聲，無不驚懼。

8 And the nations Game together against him on every side out of the provinces, and they spread their net over him, in their wounds he was taken.

於是各國由四周各地追蹤牠，設下羅網捕捉牠，終於在她們的陷阱中被捕。

9 And they put him into a cage, they brought him in chains to the king of Babylon: and they cast him into prison, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

然後給牠帶上鼻環，把牠裝在籠中，將他解送到巴比倫王那裏，將牠囚禁在獄中，免得在以色列的山上再聽到牠的吼聲。

10 Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood planted by the water: her fruit and her branches have grown out of many waters.

你的母親像園中的一棵葡萄樹，栽植在水旁，因為水多，果實纍纍，枝葉繁茂。

11 And she hath strong rods to make sceptres for them that bear rule, and her stature was exalted among the branches: and she saw her height in the multitude of her branches.

她生出一根粗壯的枝條，可作統治者的權杖，它的軀幹高大，超過其他的枝葉。因它身量高大，在密茂的枝葉中，也可以見到。

12 But she was plucked up in wrath, and cast on the ground, and the burning wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods are withered, and dried up: the fire hath devoured her.

但是在狂怒中，它竟被拔出，拋棄在地上，東風吹乾了它的果實，它粗壯的枝幹被折斷而乾枯，為火所焚燒。

13 And now she is transplanted into the desert, in a land not passable, and dry.

現今它被栽植在沙漠中，在那枯燥乾旱的地方。

14 And a fire is gone out from a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit: so that she now hath no strong rod, to be a sceptre of rulers. This is a lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.

由枝梢上冒出一團火，焚燒了它的枝葉和果實，沒有給它留下一根粗壯的枝條，作統治者的權杖。」這是一篇哀歌，可為追悼之用。