Jezekiel 19

1 Moreover do you take up a lamentation for the prince of Israel,

Moreover take you up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

2 and say, Why is your mother become a whelp in the midst of lions? in the midst of lions she has multiplied her whelps.

And say, What is your mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.

3 And one of her whelps sprang forth; he became a lion, and learned to take prey, he devoured men.

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

4 And the nations heard a report of him; he was caught in their pit, and they brought him into the land of Egypt in chains.

The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.

5 And she saw that he was driven away from her, [and] her hope [of him] perished, and she took another of her whelps; she made him a lion.

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

6 And he went up and down in the midst of lions, he became a lion, and learned to take prey, he devoured men.

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

7 And he prowled in his boldness and laid waste their cities, and made the land desolate, and the fullness of it, by the voice of his roaring.

And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fullness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.

8 Then the nations set upon him from the countries round about, and they spread their nets upon him: he was taken in their pit.

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 in chains and in a cage, [and] he came to the king of Babylon; and he cast him into prison, that his voice should not be heard on the mountains of Israel.

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

10 Your mother was as a vine and as a blossom on a pomegranate tree, planted by water: her fruit and her shoot abounded by reason of much water.

Your mother is like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

11 And she became a rod for a tribe of princes, and was elevated in her bulk in the midst of [other] trees, and she saw her bulk in the multitude of her branches.

And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.

12 But she was broken down in wrath, she was cast upon the ground, and the east wind dried up her choice [branches]: vengeance came upon them, and the rod of her strength was withered; fire consumed it.

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 and withered; the fire consumed them.

13 And now they have planted her in the wilderness, in a dry land.

And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.

14 And fire is gone out of a rod of her choice [boughs], and has devoured her; and there was no rod of strength in her. Her race is become a parable of lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.

And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which has devoured her fruit, so that she has no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.