EZEKIEL
CHAPTER 19

A Lament for Israel's Princes

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 the young lions
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 devoured men.
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 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 devoured men.
⁷ He broke down ^[1] 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 round about.
They spread their net for 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 ^[2]
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 desert,
in a dry and thirsty land.
¹⁴ Fire spread from one of its main ^[3] 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."

Footnotes

1. 19:7 Targum (see Septuagint); Hebrew He knew
2. 19:10 Two Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts your blood
3. 19:14 Or from under its

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Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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