Ezekiel
Chapter 19
1 Make a sad song for Israel’s leaders.
2 Ask, “What is your mother? A lioness: she lay among lions, she raised her cubs with other lions.”
3 She raised one of her cubs; it became a young lion and learned to hunt; it ate people.
4 Other countries heard about him; he got caught in their trap, and they took him with chains to Egypt.
5 When she saw her waiting was in vain and her hope was gone, she took another one of her young and raised it to be a young lion.
6 He moved among lions, became a young lion, learned to hunt, and ate people.
7 He knew their empty homes and destroyed their cities; the land was empty and completely ruined by the sound of his roar.
8 Nations from all around trapped him with their nets, and he was caught in their hole.
9 They locked him up with chains and took him to the king of Babylon: they kept him in prison so his voice would not be heard on Israel’s mountains anymore.
10 Your mother is like a vine in your life, planted near water; she was productive and had many branches because of the plentiful water.
11 She had sturdy branches fit for rulers’ scepters; she stood tall amidst the dense foliage, her height visible with her many branches.
12 But she was yanked up angrily, thrown to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit; her strong branches were broken and dried up; the fire burned them up.
13 And now it is planted in a desert, in a dry and parched land.
14 Fire came from one of her branch sticks and burned up her fruit. Now she has no strong branch to be a ruler’s scepter. This is a sad song, and it will be used as a sad song.