Ezekiel 19
19
A Funeral Song for Israel's Leaders
The Lord said:
1Ezekiel, sing a funeral song for two of Israel's leaders:#19.1 two of Israel's leaders: Probably Jehoahaz (ruled three months in 609 b.c.) and Jehoiachin (ruled three months in 598 b.c.) or Zedekiah (598–586 b.c.).
2Your mother was a brave lioness
who raised her cubs
among lions.
3She taught one of them to hunt,
and he learned to eat people.
4When the nations heard of him,
they trapped him in a pit,
then they used hooks
to drag him to Egypt.
5His mother waited
for him to return.
But soon she lost all hope
and raised another cub,
who also became fierce.
6He hunted with other lions
and learned to eat people.
7He destroyed fortresses#19.7 He destroyed fortresses: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
and ruined towns;
his mighty roar
terrified everyone.
8Nations plotted to kill him,
and people came from all over
to spread out a net
and catch him in a trap.
9They put him in a cage
and took him to Babylonia.
The lion was locked away,
so that his mighty roar
would never again be heard
on Israel's hills.
10Your mother was a vine like you,#19.10 Your mother … like you: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
growing near a stream.
There was plenty of water,
so she was filled with branches
and with lots of fruit.
11Her strong branches
became symbols of authority,
and she was taller
than all other trees—
everyone could see how strong
and healthy she was.
12But in anger, I pulled her up
by the roots
and threw her to the ground,
where the scorching desert wind
dried out her fruit.
Her strong branches wilted
and burned up.
13Then she was planted
in a hot, dry desert,
14where her stem caught fire,
and flames burned
her branches and fruit.
Not one strong branch is left;
she is stripped bare.
This funeral song must be sung with sorrow.
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Ezekiel 19: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Ezekiel 19
19
1 "And as for you, take up a lament over the leaders of Israel,
2 and you shall say: Why did your mother, the lioness, recline among the male lions, and raise her little ones in the midst of young lions?
3 And she led away one of her little ones, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to consume men.
4 And the Gentiles heard about him, and they seized him, but not without receiving wounds. And they led him away in chains to the land of Egypt.
5 Then, when she had seen that she was weakened, and that her hope had perished, she took one of her little ones, and appointed him as a lion.
6 And he advanced among the lions, and he became a lion. And he learned to seize prey and to devour men.
7 He learned to make widows, and to lead their citizens into the desert. And the land, with its plenitude, was made desolate by the voice of his roaring.
8 And the Gentiles came together against him, on every side, from the provinces, and they spread their net over him; by their wounds, he was captured.
9 And they put him into a cage; they led him in chains to the king of Babylon. And they cast him into a prison, so that his voice would no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel.
10 Your mother is like a vine, in your blood, planted by the water; her fruit and her branches have increased because of many waters.
11 And her strong branches were made into scepters for the rulers, and her stature was exalted among the branches. And she saw her own loftiness among the multitude of her branches.
12 But she was uprooted in wrath, and cast upon the ground. And the burning wind dried up her fruit. Her robust branches withered and were dried up. A fire consumed her.
13 And now she has been transplanted into the desert, into a land impassable and dry.
14 And a fire has gone forth from a rod of her branches, which has consumed her fruit. And there is no strong branch in her to become a scepter for the rulers. This is a lamentation, and it shall be a lamentation."
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