Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel
EZEKIEL 19:2
and say: ''What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among them and reared her cubs.
EZEKIEL 19:3
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.
EZEKIEL 19:4
The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
EZEKIEL 19:5
'When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion.
EZEKIEL 19:6
He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.
EZEKIEL 19:7
He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring.
EZEKIEL 19:8
Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit.
EZEKIEL 19:9
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.
EZEKIEL 19:10
'Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water.
EZEKIEL 19:11
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
EZEKIEL 19:12
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
EZEKIEL 19:13
Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land
EZEKIEL 19:14
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.