Ezekiel 19

Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Express your deep sorrow for the leaders of Israel.

And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.

Ask yourself, who is your mother? She is a fierce lioness. She bravely lived among lions, raising her cubs in the midst of danger.

And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.

She raised one of her cubs, which grew into a fierce young lion. It learned to hunt, its hunger insatiable, consuming men.

The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.

News of him spread across the nations; they trapped him, shackled him in chains, and led him to Egypt.

Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, then she took another of her whelps, and made him a young lion.

When she realized her patience had been in vain and her hope had faded, she decided to raise another of her young ones, transforming him into a fierce lion.

And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.

He moved fearlessly among the lions, growing into a fierce young lion, mastering the art of hunting, and devouring men.

And he knew their desolate palaces, and he laid waste their cities; and the land was desolate, and the fulness thereof, by the noise of his roaring.

He understood their lonely kingdoms, and he destroyed their cities. The land was left barren, echoing with the sound of his mighty roar.

Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.

Surrounded by hostile nations from all corners, they ensnared him in their trap. He was caught in their deceptive pit.

And they put him in ward in chains, and brought him to the king of Babylon: they brought him into holds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

They shackled him, dragging him before the Babylonian king. They silenced him, ensuring his voice would never echo across Israel's mountains again.

Thy mother is like a vine in thy blood, planted by the waters: she was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

Your mother is like a deeply rooted vine, nourished by life's waters. She thrived and spread her influence, thanks to the abundance of life's blessings.

And she had strong rods for the sceptres of them that bare rule, and her stature was exalted among the thick branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.

She possessed strength, like the staffs of rulers, standing tall and proud among the dense foliage. Her grandeur was evident in her towering height and abundant branches.

But she was plucked up in fury, she was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up her fruit: her strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.

In a fit of rage, she was torn from her place and thrown to the earth. The eastern wind stole the moisture from her fruit, leaving it parched. Her once sturdy branches, now brittle and lifeless, were devoured by the flames.

And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.

Now, she finds herself lost in the barren wilderness, yearning for water in the parched and desolate land.

And fire is gone out of a rod of her branches, which hath devoured her fruit, so that she hath no strong rod to be a sceptre to rule. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

Fire has come out from one of her own branches and devoured her fruit, so that she has no strong branch left to be a ruler's scepter. This is a sorrowful lament, and it will remain a song of loss and despair.