Ezekiel 19

A Lament for the Princes of Israel

1 And you, *ch. 26:17;27:2,32;28:12;32:2;Amos 5:1;[Jer. 7:29]take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2 and say:

What was your mother? *[Gen. 49:9]A lioness!

Among lions she crouched;

in the midst of young lions

she reared her cubs.

3 And she brought up one of her cubs;

*[ch. 22:25;32:2;2 Kgs. 23:30,31] he became a young lion,

*ch. 22:25,27and he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men.

4 The nations heard about him;

*Lam. 4:20he was caught in their pit,

*[2 Kgs. 23:33,34;Jer. 22:11,12]and they brought him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

5 When she saw that she waited in vain,

that her hope was lost,

*2 Kgs. 23:34,36she took another of her cubs

and made him a young lion.

6 He prowled among the lions;

he became a young lion,

and he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men,

7 and seized*19:7 Hebrew knew their widows.

He laid waste their cities,

and the land was appalled and all who were in it

at the sound of his roaring.

8 *[2 Chr. 36:6] Then the nations set against him

from provinces on every side;

*See ch. 12:13they spread their net over him;

*[See ver. 4above]he was taken in their pit.

9 With hooks *[See ver. 8above] they put him in a cage*19:9 Or in a wooden collar

and *[Jer. 22:26,27] brought him to the king of Babylon;

they brought him into custody,

that his voice should no more be heard

on *See ch. 6:2the mountains of Israel.

10 Your mother was *See ch. 15:6like a vine in a vineyard*19:10 Some Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts in your blood

planted by the water,

*[Ps. 80:9] fruitful and full of branches

*[Deut. 8:7]by reason of abundant water.

11 Its strong stems became

rulers’ scepters;

it towered aloft

among the thick boughs;*19:11 Or the clouds

it was seen in its height

with the mass of its branches.

12 But the vine was plucked up in fury,

cast down to the ground;

*ch. 17:10;[Hos. 13:15]the east wind dried up its fruit;

they were stripped off and withered.

As for its strong stem,

fire consumed it.

13 *[ch. 1:1;Hos. 2:3;See 2 Kgs. 24:12-16]Now it is planted in the wilderness,

in a dry and thirsty land.

14 *[2 Kgs. 24:20]; See ch. 17:15-19And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots,

has consumed its fruit,

*[ver. 11, 12]so that there remains in it no strong stem,

no scepter for ruling.

This is *See ver. 1a lamentation and has become a lamentation.