Ezekiel 19:1–9

A Song of Sadness About Israel’s Princes

19“Sing a song of sadness about Israel’s princes. ²Say to Israel,

“ ‘You were like a mother lion to your princes.

She lay down among the young lions.

She brought up her cubs.

³One of them was Jehoahaz.

He became a strong lion.

He learned to tear apart what he caught.

And he ate men up.

⁴The nations heard about him.

They trapped him in their pit.

They put hooks in his face.

And they led him away to Egypt.

⁵“ ‘The mother lion looked and waited.

But all of her hope was gone.

So she got another one of her cubs.

She made him into a strong lion.

⁶He prowled with the lions.

He became very strong.

He learned to tear apart what he caught.

And he ate men up.

⁷He broke down their forts.

He completely destroyed their towns.

The land and all those who were in it

were terrified when he roared.

⁸Then nations came against him.

They came from all around him.

They spread out their net to catch him.

He was trapped in their pit.

⁹They used hooks to pull him into a cage.

They brought him to the king of Babylonia.

They put him in prison.

So his roar was not heard anymore

on the mountains of Israel.