Ezekiel 19
New American Standard Bible
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 2 and say,
‘[a]What was your mother?
A lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions,
She raised her cubs.
3 When she brought up one of her cubs,
(C)He became a young lion,
And he learned to tear his prey;
He devoured people.
4 Then nations heard about him;
He was caught in their trap,
And they (D)brought him with hooks
To the land of Egypt.
5 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.
6 And he (F)walked about among the lions,
He became a young lion;
He learned to tear his prey;
He devoured people.
7 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.
8 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.
9 (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
- Ezekiel 19:2 Or Why did your mother, a lioness, lie down among lions; among young lions rear her cubs?
- Ezekiel 19:5 Lit one
- Ezekiel 19:7 As in Targum; MT knew
- Ezekiel 19:7 Or widows
- Ezekiel 19:9 Or iron
- Ezekiel 19:10 As in some mss; MT blood
- Ezekiel 19:11 Lit stems of strength
- Ezekiel 19:12 Lit The stem of her strength
- Ezekiel 19:12 As in LXX; MT were
- Ezekiel 19:12 As in LXX; MT they
- Ezekiel 19:14 Lit stem of strength
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
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
19 Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 And say: Why did thy mother the lioness lie down among the lions, and bring up her whelps in the midst of young lions?
3 And she brought out one of her whelps, and he became a lion: and he learned to catch the prey, and to devour men.
4 And the nations heard of him, and took him, but not without receiving wounds: and they brought him in chains into the land of Egypt.
5 But she seeing herself weakened, and that her hope was lost, took one of her young lions, and set him up for a lion.
6 And he went up and down among the lions, and became a lion: and he learned to catch the prey, and to devour men.
7 He learned to make widows, and to lay waste their cities: and the land became desolate, and the fulness thereof by the noise of his roaring.
8 And the nations came together against him on every side out of the provinces, and they spread their net over him, in their wounds he was taken.
9 And they put him into a cage, they brought him in chains to the king of Babylon: and they cast him into prison, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10 Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood planted by the water: her fruit and her branches have grown out of many waters.
11 And she hath strong rods to make sceptres for them that bear rule, and her stature was exalted among the branches: and she saw her height in the multitude of her branches.
12 But she was plucked up in wrath, and cast on the ground, and the burning wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods are withered, and dried up: the fire hath devoured her.
13 And now she is transplanted into the desert, in a land not passable, and dry.
14 And a fire is gone out from a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit: so that she now hath no strong rod, to be a sceptre of rulers. This is a lamentation, and it shall be for a lamentation.
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.)
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