Ezekiel 19

A Lament for the Princes of Israel 1And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, 2and say: What was your mother? A lioness!
   Among lions she crouched;
in the midst of young lions
   she reared her cubs. 3And she brought up one of her cubs;
   he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
   he devoured men. 4The nations heard about him;
   he was caught in their pit,
and they brought him with hooks
   to the land of Egypt. 5When she saw that she waited in vain,
   that her hope was lost,
she took another of her cubs
   and made him a young lion. 6He prowled among the lions;
   he became a young lion,
and he learned to catch prey;
   he devoured men, 7and seizedHebrew knew their widows.
   He laid waste their cities,
and the land was appalled and all who were in it
   at the sound of his roaring. 8Then the nations set against him
   from provinces on every side;
they spread their net over him;
   he was taken in their pit. 9With hooks they put him in a cageOr in a wooden collar
   and brought him to the king of Babylon;
   they brought him into custody,
that his voice should no more be heard
   on the mountains of Israel.

10Your mother was like a vine in a vineyardSome Hebrew manuscripts; most Hebrew manuscripts in your blood
   planted by the water,
fruitful and full of branches
   by reason of abundant water. 11Its strong stems became
   rulers' scepters;
it towered aloft
   among the thick boughs;Or the clouds
it was seen in its height
   with the mass of its branches. 12But the vine was plucked up in fury,
   cast down to the ground;
the east wind dried up its fruit;
   they were stripped off and withered.
As for its strong stem,
   fire consumed it. 13Now it is planted in the wilderness,
   in a dry and thirsty land. 14And fire has gone out from the stem of its shoots,
   has consumed its fruit,
so that there remains in it no strong stem,
   no scepter for ruling.
This is a lamentation and has become a lamentation.