Ezekiel 19
Good News Translation
A Song of Sorrow
19 The Lord told me to sing this song of sorrow for two princes of Israel:
2 What a lioness your mother was!
She raised her cubs among the fierce male lions.
3 She raised a cub and taught him to hunt;
he learned to eat people.
4 The nations heard about him
and trapped him in a pit.
With hooks they dragged him off to Egypt.
5 She waited until she saw all hope was gone.
Then she raised another of her cubs,
and he grew into a fierce lion.
6 When he was full-grown,
he prowled with the other lions.
He too learned to hunt and eat people.
7 He wrecked forts,[a] he ruined towns.
The people of the land were terrified
every time he roared.
8 The nations gathered to fight him;
people came from everywhere.
They spread their hunting nets
and caught him in their trap.
9 They put him in a cage
and took him to the king of Babylonia.
They kept him under guard,
so that his roar would never be heard again
on the hills of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a grapevine[b]
planted near a stream.
Because there was plenty of water,
the vine was covered with leaves and fruit.
11 Its branches were strong
and grew to be royal scepters.
The vine grew tall enough to reach the clouds;
everyone saw how leafy and tall it was.
12 But angry hands pulled it up by the roots
and threw it to the ground.
The east wind dried up its fruit.
Its branches were broken off;
they dried up and were burned.
13 Now it is planted in the desert,
in a dry and waterless land.
14 The stem of the vine caught fire;
fire burned up its branches and fruit.
The branches will never again be strong,
will never be royal scepters.
This is a song of sorrow; it has been sung again and again.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 19:7 One ancient translation wrecked forts; Hebrew unclear.
- Ezekiel 19:10 Hebrew has an additional word, the meaning of which is unclear.
Ezekiel 19
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Israel Degraded
19 As for you, raise up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,(A) 2 and say:
What a lioness was your mother
among lions!
She lay down among young lions,
rearing her cubs.(B)
3 She raised up one of her cubs;
he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
he devoured humans.(C)
4 The nations heard about him;
he was caught in their pit,
and they brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.(D)
5 When she saw that she was thwarted,
that her hope was lost,
she took another of her cubs
and made him a young lion.(E)
6 He prowled among the lions;
he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
he devoured people.(F)
7 And he ravaged their strongholds[a]
and laid waste their towns;
the land was appalled, and all in it,
at the sound of his roaring.(G)
8 The nations set upon him
from the provinces all around;
they spread their net over him;
he was caught in their pit.(H)
9 With hooks they put him in a neck collar
and brought him to the king of Babylon;
they brought him into custody,
so that his voice should be heard no more
on the mountains of Israel.(I)
10 Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard[b]
transplanted by the water,
fruitful and full of branches
from abundant water.(J)
11 Its strongest stem became
a ruler’s scepter;[c]
it towered aloft
among the clouds;
it stood out in its height
with its mass of branches.(K)
12 But it was plucked up in fury,
cast down to the ground;
the east wind dried it up;
its fruit was stripped off;
its strong stem was withered;
the fire consumed it.(L)
13 Now it is transplanted into the wilderness,
into a dry and thirsty land.(M)
14 And fire has gone out from its stem,
has consumed its branches and fruit,
so that there remains in it no strong stem,
no scepter for ruling.
This is a lamentation, and it is used as a lamentation.(N)
Ezekiel 19
Complete Jewish Bible
19 “Moreover, raise a lament for the leaders of Isra’el; 2 say:
‘What a mother you had —
a lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions
and reared her cubs.
3 One of her cubs she singled out:
he became a young lion,
he learned to seize his prey,
he became a man-eater.
4 The nations sounded an alarm against him;
and he was caught in their pit.
With hooks they dragged him off
to the land of Egypt.
5 When she saw that she had been thwarted,
that her hope was lost,
she took another of her cubs
and made a young lion of him.
6 He prowled among the lions,
grew to be a young lion,
learned to seize his prey
and became a man-eater.
7 He raped their widows
and destroyed their cities;
the land and all in it were appalled
at the sound of his roaring.
8 The nations set a snare for him
from the provinces all around,
they spread their net over him,
and he was caught in their pit.
9 With hooks they put him in a cage
and brought him to the king of Bavel
to imprison him in a fortress,
so that his roar would be heard no more
on the mountains of Isra’el.
10 “‘Your mother was like a strong grapevine
planted by the water.
It was fruitful and luxuriant
because of the abundant water.
11 It had strong branches
to be used as scepters by rulers;
besides having thick foliage,
it grew taller and taller,
until its height was noticed,
with its mass of branches.
12 But it was torn up in fury
and flung on the ground.
An east wind withered her fruit,
her strong branches were broken off;
they dried up; and fire consumed the vine.
13 It has been transplanted to the desert,
to a dry, thirsty land.
14 Fire has gone out from its own branches,
burning up its fruit,
so that now it has no strong branch
to be a ruler’s scepter.’”
This lamentation became very well known.
Ezekiel 19
The Message
A Story of Two Lions
19 1-4 Sing the blues over the princes of Israel. Say:
What a lioness was your mother
among lions!
She crouched in a pride of young lions.
Her cubs grew large.
She reared one of her cubs to maturity,
a robust young lion.
He learned to hunt.
He ate men.
Nations sounded the alarm.
He was caught in a trap.
They took him with hooks
and dragged him to Egypt.
5-9 When the lioness saw she was luckless,
that her hope for that cub was gone,
She took her other cub
and made him a strong young lion.
He prowled with the lions,
a robust young lion.
He learned to hunt.
He ate men.
He rampaged through their defenses,
left their cities in ruins.
The country and everyone in it
was terrorized by the roars of the lion.
The nations got together to hunt him.
Everyone joined the hunt.
They set out their traps
and caught him.
They put a wooden collar on him
and took him to the king of Babylon.
No more would that voice be heard
disturbing the peace in the mountains of Israel!
10-14 Here’s another way to put it:
Your mother was like a vine in a vineyard,
transplanted alongside streams of water,
Luxurious in branches and grapes
because of the ample water.
It grew sturdy branches
fit to be carved into a royal scepter.
It grew high, reaching into the clouds.
Its branches filled the horizon,
and everyone could see it.
Then it was ripped up in a rage
and thrown to the ground.
The hot east wind shriveled it up
and stripped its fruit.
The sturdy branches dried out,
fit for nothing but kindling.
Now it’s a stick stuck out in the desert,
a bare stick in a desert of death,
Good for nothing but making fires,
campfires in the desert.
Not a hint now of those sturdy branches
fit for use as a royal scepter!
(This is a sad song, a text for singing the blues.)
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson