Ezekiel 19

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

²and 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?

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

⁴And 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.

⁵Then, 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.

⁶And he advanced among the lions, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to devour men.

⁷He 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.

⁸And 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.

⁹And 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.

¹⁰Your mother is like a vine, in your blood, planted by the water; her fruit and her branches have increased because of many waters.

¹¹And 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.

¹²But 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.

¹³And now she has been transplanted into the desert, into a land impassable and dry.

¹⁴And 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.”

Ezekiel 19

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

²And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.

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

⁴The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto 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.

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

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

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

⁹And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

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

¹¹And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.

¹²But 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.

¹³And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.

¹⁴And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.