Ezekiel 19:1–9

A Funeral Song for Israel’s Kings

“Sing this funeral song for the princes of Israel:

²“What is your mother?

A lioness among lions!

She lay down among the young lions

and reared her cubs.

³She raised one of her cubs

to become a strong young lion.

He learned to hunt and devour prey,

and he became a man-eater.

⁴Then the nations heard about him,

and he was trapped in their pit.

They led him away with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

⁵“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.

⁶He 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.

⁷He demolished fortresses

and destroyed their towns and cities.

Their farms were desolated,

and their crops were destroyed.

The land and its people trembled in fear

when they heard him roar.

⁸Then the armies of the nations attacked him,

surrounding him from every direction.

They threw a net over him

and captured him in their pit.

⁹With hooks, they dragged him into a cage

and brought him before the king of Babylon.

They held him in captivity,

so his voice could never again be heard

on the mountains of Israel.