Ezekiel 19

1 “And you, lift up a lamentation to princes of Israel,

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

2 and you have said: What [is] your mother? A lioness, She has crouched down among lions, She has multiplied her whelps in the midst of young lions.

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!

3 And she brings up one of her whelps, He has been a young lion, And he learns to tear prey, He has devoured man.

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.

4 And nations hear of him, He has been caught in their pit, And they bring him to the land of Egypt in chains.

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

5 And as she waited she sees that her hope has perished, And she takes one of her whelps, She has made him a young lion.

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.

6 And he goes up and down in the midst of lions, He has been a young lion, And he learns to tear prey, He has devoured man.

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.

7 And he knows his forsaken habitations, And he has laid waste [to] their cities, And the land and its fullness is desolate, Because of the voice of his roaring.

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.

8 And surrounding nations set against him from the provinces. And they spread out their net for him, He has been caught in their pit.

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.

9 And they put him in prison—in chains, And they bring him to the king of Babylon, They bring him into bulwarks, So that his voice is not heard On mountains of Israel anymore.

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.

10 Your mother, like the vine in your blood, Is being planted by waters, She was bearing fruit and full of boughs, Because of many waters.

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.

11 And she has strong rods for scepters of rulers, And she is high in stature above—between thick branches, And it appears in its height In the multitude of its thin shoots.

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.

12 And she is plucked up in fury, She has been cast to the earth, And the east wind has dried up her fruit, [The] rod of her strength has been broken and withered, Fire has consumed it.

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.

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

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

14 And fire goes forth from a rod of her boughs, It has devoured her fruit, And she has no rod of strength—a scepter to rule, A lamentation—and she has become for a lamentation!”

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.