Ezekiel 19:2–6

and say:

What was your mother? A lioness!

Among lions she crouched;

in the midst of young lions

she reared her cubs.

And she brought up one of her cubs;

he became a young lion,

and he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men.

The nations heard about him;

he was caught in their pit,

and they brought him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

When she saw that she waited in vain,

that her hope was lost,

she took another of her cubs

and made him a young lion.

He prowled among the lions;

he became a young lion,

and he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men,

and say:

“ ‘What a lioness was your mother

among the lions!

She lay down among them

and reared her cubs.

She brought up one of her cubs,

and he became a strong lion.

He learned to tear the prey

and he became a man-eater.

The nations heard about him,

and he was trapped in their pit.

They led him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

“ ‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled,

her expectation gone,

she took another of her cubs

and made him a strong lion.

He prowled among the lions,

for he was now a strong lion.

He learned to tear the prey

and he became a man-eater.

“What is your mother?

A lioness among lions!

She lay down among the young lions

and reared her cubs.

She raised one of her cubs

to become a strong young lion.

He learned to hunt and devour prey,

and he became a man-eater.

Then the nations heard about him,

and he was trapped in their pit.

They led him away with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

“When the lioness saw

that her hopes for him were gone,

she took another of her cubs

and taught him to be a strong young lion.

He prowled among the other lions

and stood out among them in his strength.

He learned to hunt and devour prey,

and he, too, became a man-eater.

and you must say,

‘What a lioness was your mother

among the lions.

She lay down in the midst of young lions,

and she reared her lion cubs.

And she raised up one from her cubs;

he became a fierce lion,

and he learned to tear prey;

he ate humans.

And nations heard about him;

in their pit he was caught,

and they brought him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

And she saw that she was waiting in vain;

her hope was destroyed,

and she took one from her cubs,

and she made him a fierce lion.

And he walked about in the midst of lions;

he became a fierce lion,

and he learned to tear prey;

he ate humans.

And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions. And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men. The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt. Now 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. And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.