Ezekiel 19

1 “And as for you, take up a lament over the leaders of Israel,

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

2 and you shall say: Why did your mother, the lioness, recline among the male lions, and raise her little ones in the midst of young lions?

and say: —How lay thy mother at ease, a lioness among lions! Among young lions she nourished her whelps;

3 And she led away one of her little ones, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to consume men.

And she brought up one of her whelps; He became a young lion, And he learned to seize the prey; he devoured men.

4 And the Gentiles heard about him, and they seized him, but not without receiving wounds. And they led him away in chains to the land of 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 Then, when she had seen that she was weakened, and that her hope had perished, she took one of her little ones, and appointed him as a lion.

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 And he advanced among the lions, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to devour men.

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 learned to make widows, and to lead their citizens into the desert. And the land, with its plenitude, was made desolate by the voice of his roaring.

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 And the Gentiles came together against him, on every side, from the provinces, and they spread their net over him; by their wounds, he was captured.

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 And they put him into a cage; they led him in chains to the king of Babylon. And they cast him into a prison, so that his voice would no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

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 Your mother is like a vine, in your blood, planted by the water; her fruit and her branches have increased because of many waters.

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 And her strong branches were made into scepters for the rulers, and her stature was exalted among the branches. And she saw her own loftiness among the multitude of her branches.

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 But she was uprooted in wrath, and cast upon the ground. And the burning wind dried up her fruit. Her robust branches withered and were dried up. A fire consumed her.

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 And now she has been transplanted into the desert, into a land impassable and dry.

And now she is planted in the desert, In a dry and thirsty land.

14 And a fire has gone forth from a rod of her branches, which has consumed her fruit. And there is no strong branch in her to become a scepter for the rulers. This is a lamentation, and it shall be a lamentation.”

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.