Read New International Version, 2011 Ezekiel 19 Bible Online

Ezekiel 19 - New International Version, 2011 bible

Ezekiel 19

¹“Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel

²and say: “ ‘What a lioness was your mother among the lions! She lay down among them and reared her cubs.

³She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.

⁴The nations heard about him, and he was trapped in their pit. They led him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

⁵“ ‘When she saw her hope unfulfilled, her expectation gone, she took another of her cubs and made him a strong lion.

⁶He prowled among the lions, for he was now a strong lion. He learned to tear the prey and he became a man-eater.

⁷He broke down [27] their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and all who were in it were terrified by his roaring.

⁸Then the nations came against him, those from regions round about. They spread their net for him, and he was trapped in their pit.

⁹With hooks they pulled him into a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison, so his roar was heard no longer on the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰“ ‘Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard [28] planted by the water; it was fruitful and full of branches because of abundant water.

¹¹Its branches were strong, fit for a ruler’s scepter. It towered high above the thick foliage, conspicuous for its height and for its many branches.

¹²But it was uprooted in fury and thrown to the ground. The east wind made it shrivel, it was stripped of its fruit; its strong branches withered and fire consumed them.

¹³Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land.

¹⁴Fire spread from one of its main [29] branches and consumed its fruit. No strong branch is left on it fit for a ruler’s scepter.’ “This is a lament and is to be used as a lament.”