Song of Mourning for the Leaders of Israel

19 “As for you, take up a (A)song of mourning for the (B)leaders of Israel and say,

[a]What was your mother?
A lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions,
She raised her cubs.
When she brought up one of her cubs,
(C)He became a young lion,
And he learned to tear his prey;
He devoured people.
Then nations heard about him;
He was caught in their trap,
And they (D)brought him with hooks
To the land of Egypt.
When she saw, as she waited,
That her hope was lost,
She took [b]another of her cubs
And made (E)him a young lion.
And he (F)walked about among the lions,
He became a young lion;
He learned to tear his prey;
He devoured people.
He [c]destroyed their [d]palaces
And laid waste their cities;
And the land and its fullness were appalled
Because of the sound of his roaring.
Then (G)nations set against him
On every side from their provinces,
And they spread their net over him;
He was caught in their trap.
(H)They put him in a [e]wooden collar with hooks
And (I)brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in hunting nets
So that his voice would no longer be heard
On the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was (J)like a vine in your [f]vineyard,
Planted by the waters;
It was fruitful and thick with branches
Because of abundant waters.
11 And it had [g](K)strong stems fit for scepters of rulers,
And its (L)height was raised above the clouds
So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
12 But it was (M)uprooted in fury;
It was (N)thrown down to the ground;
And the (O)east wind dried up its fruit.
[h]Its (P)strong stem [i]was torn out
So that [j]it withered;
The fire consumed it.
13 And now it is planted in the (Q)wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.
14 And (R)fire has gone out from its stem;
It has consumed its shoots and fruit,
So that there is no [k]strong stem in it,
A scepter to rule.’”

This is a song of mourning, and has become a song of mourning.

Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 19:2 Or Why did your mother, a lioness, lie down among lions; among young lions rear her cubs?
  2. Ezekiel 19:5 Lit one
  3. Ezekiel 19:7 As in Targum; MT knew
  4. Ezekiel 19:7 Or widows
  5. Ezekiel 19:9 Or iron
  6. Ezekiel 19:10 As in some mss; MT blood
  7. Ezekiel 19:11 Lit stems of strength
  8. Ezekiel 19:12 Lit The stem of her strength
  9. Ezekiel 19:12 As in LXX; MT were
  10. Ezekiel 19:12 As in LXX; MT they
  11. Ezekiel 19:14 Lit stem of strength

Lament for the Leaders of Israel

19 “And you, raise a lament about[a] the leaders of Israel, 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.
And she raised up one from her cubs;
    he became a fierce lion,
and he learned to tear prey;
    he ate[b] humans.[c]
And nations heard about him;
    in their pit he was caught,
and they brought him with hooks
    to the land of Egypt.
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.
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]
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.
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.
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

  1. Ezekiel 19:1 Or “over”
  2. Ezekiel 19:3 Or “devoured”
  3. Ezekiel 19:3 Hebrew “human”
  4. Ezekiel 19:5 Or “realized”
  5. Ezekiel 19:6 Or “devoured”
  6. Ezekiel 19:6 Hebrew “human”
  7. Ezekiel 19:7 Or “ravished/raped”; or “he ravaged their strongholds”
  8. Ezekiel 19:7 Literally “its fullness”
  9. Ezekiel 19:8 Literally “all around from the provinces”
  10. Ezekiel 19:9 Hebrew “in”
  11. Ezekiel 19:9 Literally “longer”
  12. Ezekiel 19:10 Or “in the vineyard”
  13. Ezekiel 19:10 Literally “fruitful”
  14. Ezekiel 19:10 Or “from waters abundant/many”
  15. Ezekiel 19:11 Literally “they became to her branches/rods of strength”
  16. Ezekiel 19:11 Or “for”
  17. Ezekiel 19:11 Or “among”
  18. Ezekiel 19:11 Or “visible”
  19. Ezekiel 19:13 Literally “a land of dryness and thirst”
  20. Ezekiel 19:14 Literally “a branch of strength”
  21. Ezekiel 19:14 Literally “she is for a lament”