Ezekiel 19
1 Thou. therefore take up a dirge, for the prince of Israel;
And thou, lift up a lamentation unto 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 thou hast said: What [is] thy mother? — a lioness, Among lions she hath crouched down, In the midst of young lions she hath multiplied 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 bringeth up one of her whelps, A young lion it hath been, And it learneth to tear prey, man it hath 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 hear of it do nations, In their pit it hath been caught, And they bring it in with chains 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.
And she seeth, that stayed — perished hath her hope, And she taketh one of her whelps, A young lion she hath made it.
6 Yea he went to and fro amidst lions A young lion, he became, - And he learned to rend prey. Men, he devoured;
And it goeth up and down in the midst of lions, A young lion it hath been, And it learneth to tear prey, man it hath 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 it knoweth his forsaken habitations, And their cities it hath laid waste, And desolate is the land and its fulness, Because of the voice 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;
And set against it do nations Round about from the provinces. And they spread out for it their net, In their pit it hath been 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 it in prison — in chains, And they bring it unto the king of Babylon, They bring it in unto bulwarks, So that its voice is not heard any more On 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 [is] as a vine in thy blood by waters planted, Fruitful and full of boughs it hath been, Because 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 it hath strong rods for sceptres of rulers, And high is its stature above thick branches, And it appeareth in its height In the multitude of its thin shoots.
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.
And it is plucked up in fury, To the earth it hath been cast, And the east wind hath dried up its fruit, Broken and withered hath been the rod of its strength, Fire hath consumed it.
13 Now, therefore, is she planted in a desert, -In a land parched and dry;
And now — it is planted in a wilderness, In a land dry and thirsty.
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 go forth doth fire from a rod of its boughs, Its fruit it hath devoured, And it hath no rod of strength — a sceptre to rule, Lamentation it [is] — and it is for a lamentation!'
