Ezekiel 19
1 Thou. therefore take up a dirge, for the prince of Israel;
And thou, —do thou lift up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 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;
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 reared up one of her whelps— A young lion, he became, And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured.
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 Then nations heard of him. In their pit, was he caught, — So they brought him with hooks. Into the land of Egypt.
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 she saw she had waited Lost was her hope, Then took she another of her whelps. A young lion, she made him.
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 Yea he went to and fro amidst lions A young lion, he became, - And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured;
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 injured his widows, And their cities, laid waste, - And deserted was the land and its fulness, At the noise 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 Then set upon him the nations round about. From the provinces, - And spread over him their net In their pit, was he caught;
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 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.
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 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;
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 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.
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 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.
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 Now, therefore, is she planted in a desert, -In a land parched and dry;
And now is she planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.
14 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.
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.
