Ezekiel 19

Lament for the Princes of Israel

1“As for you, take up a 1lamentation for the 2princes of Israel 2and say, ‘3What was your mother? A lioness among lions! She lay down among young lions, She reared her cubs.3When she brought up one of her cubs, He became a lion, And he learned to tear his prey; He devoured men.4Then nations heard about him; He was captured in their pit, And they 4brought him with hooks To the land of Egypt.5When she saw, as she waited, That her hope was lost, She took 5another of her cubs And made him a young lion.6And he 6walked about among the lions; He became a young lion, He learned to tear his prey; He devoured men.7He 7destroyed their 8fortified towers And laid waste their cities; And the land and its fullness were appalled Because of the sound of his roaring.8Then 9nations set against him On every side from their provinces, And they spread their net over him; He was captured in their pit.910They put him in a cage with hooks And 11brought him to the king of Babylon; They brought him in hunting nets So that his voice would be heard no more On the mountains of Israel.10Your mother was 12like a vine in your 13vineyard, Planted by the waters; It was fruitful and full of branches Because of abundant waters.11And it had 1415strong branches fit for scepters of rulers, And its 16height was raised above the clouds So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.12But it was 17plucked up in fury; It was 18cast down to the ground; And the 19east wind dried up its fruit. Its 2021strong branch 22was torn off So that 23it withered; The fire consumed it.13And now it is planted in the 24wilderness, In a dry and thirsty land.14And 25fire has gone out from its branch; It has consumed its shoots and fruit, So that there is not in it a 26strong branch, A scepter to rule.’” This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.