VerseAI

NIV

Ezekiel 19

  1. 1<pb/>“Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel
  2. 2and say: <pb/><t>“ ‘What a lioness was your mother</t> <t>among the lions!</t> <t>She lay down among them</t> <t>and reared her cubs.</t>
  3. 3<t>She brought up one of her cubs,</t> <t>and he became a strong lion.</t> <t>He learned to tear the prey</t> <t>and he became a man-eater.</t>
  4. 4<t>The nations heard about him,</t> <t>and he was trapped in their pit.</t> <t>They led him with hooks</t> <t>to the land of Egypt. <pb/></t>
  5. 5<t>“ ‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled,</t> <t>her expectation gone,</t> <t>she took another of her cubs</t> <t>and made him a strong lion.</t>
  6. 6<t>He prowled among the lions,</t> <t>for he was now a strong lion.</t> <t>He learned to tear the prey</t> <t>and he became a man-eater.</t>
  7. 7<t>He broke down<f>[27]</f>a their strongholds</t> <t>and devastated their towns.</t> <t>The land and all who were in it</t> <t>were terrified by his roaring.</t>
  8. 8<t>Then the nations came against him,</t> <t>those from regions round about.</t> <t>They spread their net for him,</t> <t>and he was trapped in their pit.</t>
  9. 9<t>With hooks they pulled him into a cage</t> <t>and brought him to the king of Babylon.</t> <t>They put him in prison,</t> <t>so his roar was heard no longer</t> <t>on the mountains of Israel. <pb/></t>
  10. 10<t>“ ‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard<f>[28]</f>b</t> <t>planted by the water;</t> <t>it was fruitful and full of branches</t> <t>because of abundant water.</t>
  11. 11<t>Its branches were strong,</t> <t>fit for a ruler’s scepter.</t> <t>It towered high</t> <t>above the thick foliage,</t> <t>conspicuous for its height</t> <t>and for its many branches.</t>
  12. 12<t>But it was uprooted in fury</t> <t>and thrown to the ground.</t> <t>The east wind made it shrivel,</t> <t>it was stripped of its fruit;</t> <t>its strong branches withered</t> <t>and fire consumed them.</t>
  13. 13<t>Now it is planted in the desert,</t> <t>in a dry and thirsty land.</t>
  14. 14<t>Fire spread from one of its main<f>[29]</f>c branches</t> <t>and consumed its fruit.</t> <t>No strong branch is left on it</t> <t>fit for a ruler’s scepter.’</t> <pb/>“This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.”