Ezekiel 19

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

Moreover, take thou 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: —How lay thy mother at ease, a lioness among lions! Among young lions she nourished 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 seize the prey; he devoured men.

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 the nations heard of him, he was taken in their pit, And they brought him with nose-rings to 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.

And when she saw that she waited in vain, and that her hope was lost, She took another of her whelps, and she 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 among the lions; he became a young lion, And he learned to seize the prey; he devoured men.

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.

He knew their widows, and laid waste their cities, And the land was desolate, and all that was therein, before the voice 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 the nations set themselves 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 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 with nose rings into a cage, And carried him to the king of Babylon. And they carried him to a stronghold, That his voice might be heard no more Upon 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 planted like thyself by the waters; She was fruitful and full of branches 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.

She had strong rods for sceptres of rulers, And her stature was high among the thick branches, So that she was conspicuous in her height, And the multitude of her branches.

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

And now she is planted in the desert, 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 a fire is gone forth out of a rod of her branches, Which hath devoured her fruit, So that she hath no strong rod for a ruler's sceptre. This is a lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.