Ezekiel 19

¹ "Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel

² and say:
"'What a lioness was your mother
among the lions!
She lay down among them
and reared her cubs.

³ She brought up one of her cubs,
and he became a strong lion.
He learned to tear the prey
and he became a man-eater.

⁴ The nations heard about him,
and he was trapped in their pit.
They led him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.

⁵ "'When she saw her hope was unfulfilled,
her expectation gone,
she took another of her cubs
and made him a strong lion.

⁶ He prowled among the lions,
for he was now a strong lion.
He learned to tear the prey
and he became a man-eater.

⁷ He broke down their strongholds
and devastated their towns.
The land and all who were in it
were terrified by his roaring.

⁸ Then the nations came against him,
those from regions all around.
They spread their net over him,
and he was trapped in their pit.

⁹ With hooks they pulled him into a cage
and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They put him in prison,
so his roar was heard no longer
on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰ "'Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
planted by the water;
it was fruitful and full of branches
because of abundant water.

¹¹ Its 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.

¹² But it was uprooted in fury
and thrown to the ground.
The east wind made it shrivel;
it was stripped of its fruit.
Its strong branches withered,
and fire consumed them.

¹³ Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴ Fire spread from one of its main branches
and consumed its fruit.
No strong branch is left on it
fit for a ruler's scepter.'
This is a lament and is to be used as a lament."