Ezekiel 19

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

Thou. therefore take up a dirge, for the prince of Israel;

2 and say: How was thy mother a lioness; among lions she couched, in the midst of the young lions she reared her whelps!

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

And she reared up one of her whelps— A young lion, he became, And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured.

4 Then the nations assembled against him, he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks unto 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 she was disappointed, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him 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, he became a young lion; and he learned to catch the prey, he devoured men.

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 knew their castles, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, because of the noise 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 Then the nations cried out against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him, he was taken in their pit.

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 in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon; that they might bring him into strongholds, so that his voice should no more 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 Thy mother was like a vine, in thy likeness, planted by the waters; she was fruitful and full of branches by reason 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 she had strong rods to be sceptres for them that bore rule; and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she was seen in her height with the multitude of her tendrils.

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 plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; her strong rods were broken off and withered, the 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 is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.

Now, therefore, is she planted in a desert, -In a land parched and dry;

14 And fire is gone out of the rod of her branches, it hath devoured her fruit, so that there is in her no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule.' This is a lamentation, and it was for 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.