Ezekiel 19
1 [Yahweh said to me, “Ezekiel], sing a sad funeral [a which will be a parable] [two of the] kings of Israel.
Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the rulers of Israel,
2 Say [to the Israeli people], ‘[It is as though] [MET] your mother was a brave female lion who raised her cubs among [other] lions.
and say, What was thy mother? A lioness. She couched among lions. In the midst of the young lions she nourished her whelps.
3 She taught one of them to [for other animals to kill], and he [even] learned [kill and] eat people.
And she brought up one of her whelps. He became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey. He devoured men.
4 [When people from other] nations heard about him, they trapped him in a pit. Then they used hooks to drag him to Egypt.
The nations also heard of him. He was taken in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5 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.
Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.
6 He hunted along with [other] [for animals to kill], and he even learned [kill and] eat people.
And he went up and down among the lions. He became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey. He devoured men.
7 He destroyed forts, and he ruined cities. When he roared [loudly], everyone was terrified.
And he knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities. And the land was desolate, and the fullness of it, because of the noise of his roaring.
8 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.
Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and they spread their net over him. He was taken in their pit.
9 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, ]
And they put him in a cage with hooks, and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10 ‘[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.
Thy mother was like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters. It was fruitful and full of branches because of many waters.
11 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].
And it had strong twigs for the scepters of those who bore rule. And their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.
12 [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.
But it was plucked up in fury. It was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong twigs were broken off and withered. The fire consumed them.
13 Now that vine has been planted in a hot, dry desert.
And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.
14 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.”
And fire has gone out of the twigs of its branches. It has devoured its fruit, so that there is no strong twig in it to be a scepter to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.
