Ezekiel 19
1 “And you, raise a lament for the princes of Israel.
2 And say: ‘What a lioness your mother was! She lay among lions; among young lions she raised her cubs.
3 She raised one of her cubs; he became a young lion, learned to tear prey apart, and devoured people.
4 The nations heard about him, and he was caught in their pit; they led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5 She saw that she had waited in vain, that her hope was lost; so she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.
6 He prowled among the lions, became a young lion, learned to tear prey apart, and devoured people.
7 He knew their widows and laid their cities waste; the land and all it held lay desolate at the sound of his roaring.
8 Then the nations set themselves against him from every side, coming from the provinces. They spread their net over him, and he was caught in their pit.
9 They put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into strongholds, so that his voice would no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother was like a vine, in your blood, planted beside the waters. She was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundant waters.
11 She had strong branches, fit for rulers’ scepters. Her stature rose above the thick branches, and she stood out in her height, with her many branches.
12 But she was uprooted in fury and thrown to the ground; the east wind dried her fruit. Her strong branches were broken off and dried up, and fire consumed them.
13 Now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land.
14 Fire came out from one of her branches and consumed her fruit; no strong branch remained in her, no scepter for ruling. This is a lament, and it became a lament.’”
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