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 princes 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: —How lay thy mother at ease, a lioness among lions! Among 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 seize 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.

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 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.

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 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 seize the prey; he devoured men.

7 He destroyed forts, and he ruined cities. When he roared [loudly], everyone was terrified.

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 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 themselves against him on every side from the provinces, And 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 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 ‘[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 planted like thyself by the waters; She was fruitful and full of branches by reason 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].

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 [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 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 Now that vine has been planted in a hot, dry desert.

And now she is planted in the desert, 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 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.