Ezekiel 19
International Children’s Bible
A Sad Song for Israel
19 “Sing a funeral song for the leaders of Israel. 2 Say:
‘Your mother was like a female lion.
She lay down among the young lions.
She had many cubs.
3 She brought up one of her cubs.
And he became a strong lion.
He learned to tear the animals he hunted.
And he ate people.
4 The nations heard about him.
He was trapped in their pit.
And they brought him with hooks
to the land of Egypt.
5 “‘The mother lion waited and saw
that there was no hope for her cub.
So she took another one of her cubs
and made him a strong lion.
6 This cub roamed among the lions.
He was now a strong lion.
He learned to tear the animals he hunted.
And he ate people.
7 He destroyed their strong places.
He destroyed their cities.
The land and everything in it
were terrified by the sound of his roar.
8 Then the nations came against him
from areas all around.
And they spread their net over him.
He was trapped in their pit.
9 Then they put him into a cage with chains.
And they brought him to the king of Babylon.
They put him into prison.
Then his roar could not be heard again
on the mountains of Israel.
10 “‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard.
It was planted beside the water.
The vine had many branches and gave much fruit
because there was plenty of water.
11 The vine had strong branches.
They were good enough for a king’s scepter.
The vine became tall
among the thick branches.
And it was seen because it was tall
with many branches.
12 But it was pulled up by its roots in anger.
It was thrown down to the ground.
The east wind dried it up.
Its fruit was torn off.
Its strong branches were broken off.
They were burned up.
13 Now the vine is planted in the desert,
in a dry and thirsty land.
14 And fire has spread from the vine’s main branch.
It has destroyed its fruit.
There is not a strong branch left on it
that could become a scepter for a king.’
This is a funeral song. It is to be used as a funeral song.”
Ezekiel 19
King James Version
19 Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2 And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps among young lions.
3 And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.
4 The nations also heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with chains unto the land of Egypt.
5 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.
6 And he went up and down among the lions, he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey, and devoured men.
7 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.
8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him: he was taken in their pit.
9 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.
10 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.
11 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.
12 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.
13 And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.
14 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.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
