Ezekiel 19:1–9

A Lament for the Princes of Israel

19And you, ^xtake up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, ²and say:

What was your mother? ^yA lioness!

Among lions she crouched;

in the midst of young lions

she reared her cubs.

³And she brought up one of her cubs;

^zhe became a young lion,

^aand he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men.

⁴The nations heard about him;

^bhe was caught in their pit,

^cand they brought him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

⁵When she saw that she waited in vain,

that her hope was lost,

^dshe took another of her cubs

and made him a young lion.

⁶He prowled among the lions;

he became a young lion,

and he learned to catch prey;

he devoured men,

⁷and seized¹ their widows.

He laid waste their cities,

and the land was appalled and all who were in it

at the sound of his roaring.

^8eThen the nations set against him

from provinces on every side;

^fthey spread their net over him;

^bhe was taken in their pit.

⁹With hooks ^ethey put him in a cage²

and ^gbrought him to the king of Babylon;

they brought him into custody,

that his voice should no more be heard

on ^hthe mountains of Israel.