Ezekiel 19

A Lament Over Israel’s Princes

19“Take up a lament^l concerning the princes^m of Israel ²and say:

“ ‘What a lionessⁿ was your mother

among the lions!

She lay down among them

and reared her cubs.^o

³She brought up one of her cubs,

and he became a strong lion.

He learned to tear the prey

and he became a man-eater.

⁴The nations heard about him,

and he was trapped in their pit.

They led him with hooks^p

to the land of Egypt.^q

⁵“ ‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled,

her expectation gone,

she took another of her cubs^r

and made him a strong lion.^s

⁶He prowled among the lions,

for he was now a strong lion.

He learned to tear the prey

and he became a man-eater.^t

⁷He broke down^a their strongholds

and devastated^u their towns.

The land and all who were in it

were terrified by his roaring.

⁸Then the nations^v came against him,

those from regions round about.

They spread their net^w for him,

and he was trapped in their pit.^x

⁹With hooks^y they pulled him into a cage

and brought him to the king of Babylon.^z

They put him in prison,

so his roar^a was heard no longer

on the mountains of Israel.^b

¹⁰“ ‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard^bc

planted by the water;^d

it was fruitful and full of branches

because of abundant water.^e

¹¹Its branches were strong,

fit for a ruler’s scepter.

It towered high

above the thick foliage,

conspicuous for its height

and for its many branches.^f

¹²But it was uprooted^g in fury

and thrown to the ground.

The east wind^h made it shrivel,

it was stripped of its fruit;

its strong branches withered

and fire consumed them.ⁱ

¹³Now it is planted in the desert,^j

in a dry and thirsty land.^k

¹⁴Fire spread from one of its main^c branches

and consumed^l its fruit.

No strong branch is left on it

fit for a ruler’s scepter.’^m

“This is a lamentⁿ and is to be used as a lament.”