Ezekiel 19

1 And thou, —do thou lift up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

[Yahweh said to me, “Ezekiel], sing a sad funeral [a which will be a parable] [two of the] kings of Israel.

2 And say, What a noble lioness was thy mother! among lions did she lie down, in the midst of young lions did she raise her whelps!

Say [to the Israeli people], ‘[It is as though] [MET] your mother was a brave female lion who raised her cubs among [other] lions.

3 And she brought up one of her whelps: he became a young lion, and he learned to tear in pieces the prey; [even] men he devoured.

She taught one of them to [for other animals to kill], and he [even] learned [kill and] eat people.

4 And when nations heard of him, he was caught in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings unto the land of Egypt.

[When people from other] nations heard about him, they trapped him in a pit. Then they used hooks to drag him to Egypt.

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

His mother waited for him [to return], but [soon] she stopped hoping/expecting [that he would return]. So she raised another cub who [also] became very fierce.

6 And he went up and down in the midst of lions, he became a young lion; and he learned to tear in pieces the prey; even men he devoured.

He hunted along with [other] [for animals to kill], and he even learned [kill and] eat people.

7 And he broke down their palaces, and their cities laid he in ruins: and then was terrified the land, with all that filled it, because of the noise of his roaring.

He destroyed forts, and he ruined cities. When he roared [loudly], everyone was terrified.

8 Then set themselves the nations against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread over him their net: in their pit was he caught.

So [people of other] nations planned to kill him, and men came from many places to spread out a net for him, and they caught him in a trap.

9 And they put him in a cage with nose-rings [in his nose], and they brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into strong-holds, in order that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.

They tied him with chains and took him to Babylonia. And [there] he was locked in a prison, with the result that [no one on] the hills of Israel ever heard him roar again.’ [Also, say to the Israeli people, ]

10 Thy mother was like a vine, if I compare thee to aught, planted by the waters: fruitful and full of boughs was she by reason of many waters.

‘[It is as though] [SIM] your mother was a grapevine that was planted along a stream. There was plenty of water, so it had lots of branches and produced [a lot of] grapes.

11 And she had strong branches [fit] for the sceptres of rulers, and her stature grew up high between the thick-branched [trees], and she was seen through her height by means of the multitude of her tendrils.

That grapevine grew and became taller than all the nearby trees; [everyone could] see that it was very strong and healthy. And those branches were good for making scepters that symbolize the power/ [of a king].

12 But she was plucked up in fury, to the ground was she cast down, and the east wind dried up her fruit: and torn off and dried up were her strong branches, a fire consumed them.

[Yahweh] became very angry, so he pulled up the vine by its roots and threw it on the ground, where the [very hot] winds from the desert dried up all its fruit. The strong branches wilted and were burned in a fire.

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

Now that vine has been planted in a hot, dry desert.

14 And fire is gone out of a branch of her boughs, and hath devoured her fruit, so that there is no more on her a strong branch for a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and it is become a lamentation.

A fire started to burn its stem, and then started to burn the branches and burned all the grapes. [Now] not [even] one strong branch remains; they will never become scepters for a king.’ That funeral song must be sung very sadly.”