Lament for the Princes of Israel

1 “As for you, take up a (A)lamentation for the (B)princes of Israel 2 and say,
(a)What was your mother?
A lioness among lions!
She lay down among young lions,
She reared her cubs.
3
‘When she brought up one of her cubs,
He became a lion,
And he learned to tear his prey;
He devoured men.
4
‘Then nations heard about him;
He was captured in their pit,
And they (C)brought him with hooks
To the land of Egypt.
5
‘When she saw, as she waited,
That her hope was lost,
She took (b)another of her cubs
And made him a young lion.
6
‘And he (D)walked about among the lions;
He became a young lion,
He learned to tear his prey;
He devoured men.
7
‘He (c)destroyed their (d)fortified towers
And laid waste their cities;
And the land and its fullness were appalled
Because of the sound of his roaring.
8
‘Then (E)nations set against him
On every side from their provinces,
And they spread their net over him;
He was captured in their pit.
9
(F)They put him in a cage with hooks
And (G)brought him to the king of Babylon;
They brought him in hunting nets
So that his voice would be heard no more
On the mountains of Israel.
10
‘Your mother was (H)like a vine in your (e)vineyard,
Planted by the waters;
It was fruitful and full of branches
Because of abundant waters.
11
‘And it had (f)(I)strong branches fit for scepters of rulers,
And its (J)height was raised above the clouds
So that it was seen in its height with the mass of its branches.
12
‘But it was (K)plucked up in fury;
It was (L)cast down to the ground;
And the (M)east wind dried up its fruit.
Its (g)(N)strong branch (h)was torn off
So that (i)it withered;
The fire consumed it.
13
‘And now it is planted in the (O)wilderness,
In a dry and thirsty land.
14
‘And (P)fire has gone out from its branch;
It has consumed its shoots and fruit,
So that there is not in it a (j)strong branch,
A scepter to rule.’”
This is a lamentation, and has become a lamentation.

Footnotes:

a. Ezekiel 19:2: ['Or ', Why did your mother, a lioness, lie down among lions; among young lions rear her cubs?]
b. Ezekiel 19:5: ['Lit ', one]
c. Ezekiel 19:7: ['So Targum; M.T. ', knew]
d. Ezekiel 19:7: ['Or ', widows]
e. Ezekiel 19:10: ['So with some ancient mss; M.T. ', blood]
f. Ezekiel 19:11: ['Lit ', rods of strength]
g. Ezekiel 19:12: ['Lit ', rods of her strength]
h. Ezekiel 19:12: ['So Gr; M.T. ', they were]
i. Ezekiel 19:12: ['So Gr; M.T. ', they]
j. Ezekiel 19:14: ['Lit ', rod of strength]

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