10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,[a](A)
planted by the water;
it was fruitful and full of branches(B)
because of abundant water.
11 It had strong branches, fit for the scepters of rulers;
its height towered among the clouds.[b]
So it was conspicuous for its height
as well as its many branches.
12 But it was uprooted in fury,(C)
thrown to the ground,
and the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branches were torn off and dried up;(D)
fire consumed them.
13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,(E)
in a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire has gone out from its main branch[c]
and has devoured its fruit,
so that it no longer has a strong branch,
a scepter for ruling.(F)

This is a lament and should be used as a lament.”

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Footnotes

  1. 19:10 Some Hb mss; other Hb mss read blood
  2. 19:11 Or thick foliage
  3. 19:14 Lit from the branch of its parts

10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,[a] planted by water.

It was fruitful and full of branches because it was well-watered.
11 Its boughs were strong, fit[b] for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds.
It stood out because of its height and its many branches.[c]
12 But it was plucked up in anger; it was thrown down to the ground.
The east wind[d] dried up its fruit;
its strong branches broke off and withered—
a fire consumed them.
13 Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land.[e]
14 A fire has gone out from its branch; it has consumed its shoot and its fruit.[f]
No strong branch was left in it, nor a scepter to rule.’

“This is a lament song, and has become a lament song.”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 19:10 tc The Hebrew text reads “in your blood,” but most emend to “in your vineyard,” assuming a ב/כ (beth/kaph) confusion. See L. C. Allen, Ezekiel (WBC), 1:284. Another attractive emendation assumes a faulty word division and yields the reading “like a vine full of tendrils, which/because…”; see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 1:607, n. 68.
  2. Ezekiel 19:11 tn The word “fit” does not occur in the Hebrew text.
  3. Ezekiel 19:11 tn Heb “and it was seen by its height and by the abundance of its branches.”
  4. Ezekiel 19:12 sn The east wind symbolizes the Babylonians.
  5. Ezekiel 19:13 sn This metaphor depicts the Babylonian exile of the Davidic dynasty.
  6. Ezekiel 19:14 tn The verse uses language similar to that in Judg 9:20.