Ezekiel 19
Modern English Version
A Lament for Israel’s Princes
19 Moreover take up a lamentation for the officials of Israel, 2 and say:
What was your mother?
A lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions;
she nourished her whelps.
3 When she brought up one of her whelps,
he became a lion
and learned to catch his prey;
he devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him;
he was taken in their pit,
and they brought him with chains
to the land of Egypt.
5 Now when she saw as she had waited
that her hope was lost,
then she took another of her whelps
and made him a young lion.
6 He went up and down among the lions;
he became a young lion,
and learned to catch the prey,
and devoured men.
7 He destroyed their fortified palaces,
and he laid waste their cities;
and the land and its fullness
were appalled by the noise of his roaring.
8 Then the nations set against him
on every side from their provinces,
and spread their net over him;
he was taken in their pit.
9 They put him in a cage with hooks
and brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him in hunting nets,
so that his voice would be heard no more
on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,
planted by the waters;
it was fruitful and full of branches
by reason of many waters.
11 It had strong rods
for the scepters of those who rule.
And its stature
was exalted above the clouds,
so it appeared in its height
with the multitude of its branches.
12 But it was plucked up in fury,
it was cast down to the ground,
and the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong rod was broken and it withered;
the fire consumed it.
13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty ground.
14 Fire has gone out from its branch;
it has devoured its shoots and fruit,
so that there is no strong rod in it,
a scepter to rule.
This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.
Ezekiel 19
Lexham English Bible
Lament for the Leaders of Israel
19 “And you, raise a lament about[a] the leaders of Israel, 2 and you must say,
‘What a lioness was your mother
among the lions.
She lay down in the midst of young lions,
and she reared her lion cubs.
3 And she raised up one from her cubs;
he became a fierce lion,
and he learned to tear prey;
he ate[b] humans.[c]
4 And nations heard about him;
in their pit he was caught,
and they brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
5 And she saw[d] that she was waiting in vain;
her hope was destroyed,
and she took one from her cubs,
and she made him a fierce lion.
6 And he walked about in the midst of lions;
he became a fierce lion,
and he learned to tear prey;
he ate[e] humans.[f]
7 And he knew their widows,[g]
and he devastated their cities,
and the land was appalled, and everyone in it[h]
at the sound of his roar.
8 And nations set out against him
from the surrounding provinces,[i]
and they spread their net over him,
and he was caught in their pit.
9 And they put him in a collar with hooks,
and they brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him into[j] a prison,
so that his voice would not be heard any longer[k]
on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like the vine in your vineyard;[l]
planted fruitfully[m] beside water,
and it was full of branches
from many waters.[n]
11 And she produced branches of strength[o]
to[p] scepters of rulers;
its height became tall
between[q] thick foliage,
and it was seen[r] because of its tallness
among the abundance of its branches.
12 But it was uprooted in rage;
it was thrown to the earth,
and the east wind dried up its fruit;
they were stripped off,
and its strong branch dried up;
fire consumed it.
13 And now it is planted in the desert,
in a dry and thirsty land.[s]
14 And so fire has gone out from the stem of its branches;
its fruit it has consumed,
and there was not in it a strong branch,[t]
a scepter for ruling.’”
This is a lament, and it will be used as a lament.[u]
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 19:1 Or “over”
- Ezekiel 19:3 Or “devoured”
- Ezekiel 19:3 Hebrew “human”
- Ezekiel 19:5 Or “realized”
- Ezekiel 19:6 Or “devoured”
- Ezekiel 19:6 Hebrew “human”
- Ezekiel 19:7 Or “ravished/raped”; or “he ravaged their strongholds”
- Ezekiel 19:7 Literally “its fullness”
- Ezekiel 19:8 Literally “all around from the provinces”
- Ezekiel 19:9 Hebrew “in”
- Ezekiel 19:9 Literally “longer”
- Ezekiel 19:10 Or “in the vineyard”
- Ezekiel 19:10 Literally “fruitful”
- Ezekiel 19:10 Or “from waters abundant/many”
- Ezekiel 19:11 Literally “they became to her branches/rods of strength”
- Ezekiel 19:11 Or “for”
- Ezekiel 19:11 Or “among”
- Ezekiel 19:11 Or “visible”
- Ezekiel 19:13 Literally “a land of dryness and thirst”
- Ezekiel 19:14 Literally “a branch of strength”
- Ezekiel 19:14 Literally “she is for a lament”
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