Ezekiel 19 — T4T

A funeral song for Israel’s leaders

19Verse 1Yahweh said to me, “Ezekiel, sing a sad funeral songa which will be a parable abouttwo of the kings of Israel.^{Verse 2}Say to the Israeli people,‘It is as though [MET] your mother was a brave female lionwho raised her cubs among other lions.^{Verse 3}She taught one of them to huntfor other animals to kill,and he even learned tokill and eat people.^{Verse 4}When people from other nations heard about him,they trapped him in a pit.Then they used hooksto drag him to Egypt.^{Verse 5}His mother waited for him to return,but soon she stopped hoping/expecting that he would return.So she raised another cubwho also became very fierce.^{Verse 6}He hunted along with other lionsfor animals to kill,and he even learned tokill and eat people.^{Verse 7}He destroyed forts,and he ruined cities.When he roared loudly,everyone was terrified.^{Verse 8}So people of other nations planned to kill him,and men came from many placesto spread out a net for him,and they caught him in a trap.^{Verse 9}They tied him with chainsand took him to Babylonia.And there he was locked in a prison,with the result that no one on the hills of Israel ever heard him roar again.’
Also, say to the Israeli people,^{Verse 10}‘It is as though [SIM] your mother was a grapevinethat was planted along a stream.There was plenty of water,so it had lots of branches and produced a lot of grapes.^{Verse 11}That grapevine grew and became taller than all the nearby trees;everyone could see that it was very strong and healthy.And those branches were good for making sceptersthat symbolize the power/authorityof a king.^{Verse 12}ButYahweh became very angry,so he pulled up the vine by its rootsand threw it on the ground,where the very hot winds from the desert dried up all its fruit.The strong branches wiltedand were burned in a fire.^{Verse 13}Now that vine has been planted in a hot, dry desert.
^{Verse 14}A fire started to burn its stem,and then started to burn the branches
and burned all the grapes.Now not even one strong branch remains;
they will never become scepters for a king.’That funeral song must be sung very sadly.”