Ezekiel 19

Ezekiel takes up a lament for the princes of Israel. Their mother is pictured as a lioness whose cubs were captured — one taken to Egypt, the other to Babylon. She is then compared to a vine once fruitful and strong, now plucked up, withered, and burned with fire.

v	King James Version	Modern English
1	Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,	"Take up a lament 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.	"Say: What was your mother? A lioness among lions. She crouched down among young lions. She reared her cubs."
3	And she brought up one of her whelps: it became a young lion, and it learned to catch the prey; it devoured men.	"She brought up one of her cubs. He became a young lion. He learned to prey on animals. He 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.	"The nations heard about him. He was caught in their pit. They led him away with hooks to 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.	"When she saw that her hope was gone — her expectation had failed — she took another of her cubs 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.	"He prowled among the lions. He became a young lion. He learned to prey on animals. He 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.	"He broke down their strongholds and devastated their towns. The land and everything in it was terrified by the sound 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.	"Then the nations came against him from the surrounding regions. They spread their net over him and caught him 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.	"With hooks they put him in a cage and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in prison so his roar would no longer be heard on 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.	"Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted beside the water. It was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundant water."
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.	"Its branches were strong — fit to be a ruler's scepter. It grew tall and reached up to the clouds. It was conspicuous for its height and its many 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.	"But it was uprooted in fury and thrown down to the ground. The east wind dried up its fruit. Its strong branches were torn off and withered. Fire consumed them."
13	And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.	"Now it is planted in the desert, in a dry and thirsty land."
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.	"Fire spread from one of its main branches and consumed its fruit. No strong branch is left on it fit to be a ruler's scepter. This is a lament, and it is used as a lament."