Ezekiel 19

19TH CHAPTER

Funeral Songs for Israel’s Princes

¹Sing a funeral song for the princes of Israel. ²Say: 

Your mother was like a lioness. 

She lay down among the lions. 

She fed many cubs. 

³One of the cubs she raised became a young lion. 

He learned to tear apart the animals he hunted. 

He ate people. 

⁴The nations heard about him, 

caught him in their pit, 

and brought him with hooks to Egypt. 

⁵The lioness waited until she saw that there was no more hope. 

Then she took another one of her cubs 

and raised him into a young lion. 

⁶He became a young lion, and he prowled among the lions. 

He learned to tear apart the animals he hunted. 

He ate people. 

⁷He destroyed fortresses 

and turned cities into wastelands. 

The land and everyone living in it 

were terrified by the sound of his roar. 

⁸The nations from every region came together against him. 

They spread their net over him 

and caught him in their pit. 

⁹With hooks they put him in a cage 

and brought him to the king of Babylon. 

They put him in prison 

so that his roar wouldn’t be heard anymore 

on the mountains of Israel. 

¹⁰Your mother was like a grapevine 

that was planted near water. 

It had a lot of fruit and many branches 

because there was plenty of water. 

¹¹Its branches were strong. 

They were used to make scepters for kings. 

It grew to be tall with many branches around it, 

and everyone saw it because of its many branches. 

¹²But in anger it was uprooted and thrown to the ground. 

The east wind dried up its fruit. 

Its strong branches broke off. 

They withered and were burned. 

¹³Now it is planted in the desert, 

in a dry and waterless land. 

¹⁴Fire has spread from the vine’s main branch. 

Fire has destroyed its fruit. 

It no longer has any strong branches 

that could be used as a king’s scepter. 

This is a funeral song. It is to be used as a funeral song.