Ezekiel Chapter 19

1 “Sing this funeral song for Israel’s officials:    

                        2 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,

                  he became a young lion,

                        learned to catch prey,

                        and devoured people.                                    

Ezek 19:1-3

            4 Then nations heard about him.

                  They captured him in their pit,

                        and brought him with hooks to Egypt.

            5 As time went on, she saw

                        that her hope was lost,

                  and took another of her cubs

                        and made him a young lion.

            6 He walked around among the lions.

He became a young lion

                        learned to catch prey,

                        and devoured people.

Ezek 19:4-6

            7 He destroyed their fortresses

                        and laid waste their towns;

                  everybody in the

                        were terrified at his roaring.

            8 Then nations attacked him

                        on every side from their provinces.

                  They threw their net over him,

                        and captured him in their pit.

            9 With hooks they put him in a cage,

                        and took him to the king of Babylon.

                  They took him in hunting nets

                        so people could hear him anymore

                        on the mountains in Israel.

Ezek 19:7-9

            10 Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard,

                        planted near water.

                  It was fruitful and lots of branches

                        because it had plenty of water.

            11 Its strong stems became rulers’ scepters.

                  It was taller than the clouds,

                        so it could be seen with its mass of branches.

            12 But it was plucked up in fury

                        and dashed to the ground.

                  The east wind dried up its fruit.

                        and tore off and withered its strong branches.

Fire burned it up.                                                  Ezek 19:10-12

            13 Now it stands in the wilderness,

                  in a dry, thirsty land.

            14 The fire that broke out in its branches

                  and burned up its fruit

                        didn’t leave any branch

                        strong enough to be a ruler’s scepter.’”

From the CYV translation by Virgil Warren, PhD