Ezekiel 19

1Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

1Also, sing a funeral song for the leaders of Israel,

2and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she couched among lions, in the midst of the young lions she nourished her whelps.

2and say: What a lioness your mother was! She lay down among the lions; she raised her cubs among the young lions.

3And she brought up one of her whelps: he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

3She raised one of her cubs, and he grew into a strong young lion; he learned to hunt for food, and he began to eat people.

4The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit; and they brought him with hooks unto the land of Egypt.

4The neighboring nations heard about him; he was caught in their pit, and they dragged him away with hooks to the land of Egypt.

5Now 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.

5When the mother lion saw that she had waited in vain and that her hope was gone, she took another of her cubs and raised him to be a strong young lion.

6And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

6He prowled among the other lions; he became a strong young lion and learned to hunt for food, and he began to eat people.

7And he knew their palaces, and laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, because of the noise of his roaring.

7He tore down their fortresses and destroyed their cities; the land and everyone in it were terrified by the sound of his roar.

8Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces; and they spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

8Then the nations from the surrounding provinces came out against him; they spread their net over him, and he was caught in their pit.

9And 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.

9They put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon; they locked him in a prison so his roar would never be heard again on the mountains of Israel.

10Thy mother was like a vine, in thy blood, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

10Your mother was like a grapevine in your vineyard, planted near the water; it was fertile and full of branches because there was plenty of water.

11And it had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and their stature was exalted among the thick boughs, and they were seen in their height with the multitude of their branches.

11Its branches were strong, fit to be used as scepters for rulers; it grew tall, reaching into the clouds, and was famous for its height and its many thick branches.

12But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit: its strong rods were broken off and withered; the fire consumed them.

12But the vine was pulled up in anger and thrown to the ground; the hot east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were broken off and withered, and fire burned them up.

13And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.

13Now the vine is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land.

14And fire is gone out of the rods of its branches, it hath devoured its fruit, so that there is in it no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

14Fire has spread from one of its main branches and destroyed all its fruit. No strong branch is left to be a ruler’s scepter. This is a funeral song, and it will be used as a funeral song.