﻿Ezekiel.
Chapter 19.
“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel 
and say: What was your mother? A lioness! She lay among lions and reared her cubs among young lions. 
She brought up one of her cubs, and he became a young lion. He learned to tear prey and devoured people. 
The nations heard of him. He was caught in their pit, and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt. 
When she saw that she had waited and her hope was lost, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion. 
He prowled among lions and became a young lion. He learned to tear prey and devoured people. 
He knew his widows and devastated their cities. The land and all it contained were appalled at the sound of his roaring. 
The nations from the surrounding provinces came against him. They spread their net over him, and he was caught in their pit. 
They put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon. They brought him into strongholds so that his voice would no longer be heard on the mountains of Israel. 
Your mother was like a vine in your blood, planted beside the waters. It was fruitful and full of branches because of the abundant water. 
It had strong branches fit for rulers’ scepters. Its height rose among the thick boughs, and it was seen in its height with its many branches. 
But it was uprooted in wrath and thrown to the ground. The east wind dried up its fruit. They were torn off and withered; fire consumed its strong branch. 
Now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty land. 
Fire came out from a rod of its branches and consumed its fruit. No strong rod remained in it, no scepter for ruling. This is a lament and has become a lament.” 
