Ezekiel 19 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

And you — raise a funeral song for the leaders of Israel.

Say: What was your mother? A lioness among lions. She lay down among young lions and raised her cubs.

She raised one of her cubs and he became a young lion. He learned to tear prey — he devoured people.

The nations heard about him. He was caught in their pit. They dragged him with hooks to the land of Egypt.

When she saw that her hope was gone, that her waiting had come to nothing, she took another of her cubs and made him a young lion.

He prowled among the lions, became a young lion himself. He learned to tear prey — he devoured people.

He ravaged their strongholds, laid waste to their cities. The land and everything in it was stunned by the sound of his roaring.

Then the nations set against him, from the surrounding regions. They spread their net over him — he was caught in their pit.

They put him in a cage with hooks and brought him to the king of Babylon. They put him in a fortress so his roar would never again be heard on the mountains of Israel.

Your mother was like a vine in your vineyard, planted by the water. She was fruitful, full of branches, because of the abundant water.

Her strong branches became rulers' scepters. She towered high above the thick foliage, conspicuous in her height, with her many branches.

But she was ripped up in fury, thrown to the ground. The east wind dried her out, her fruit was stripped away. Her strong branches withered — fire consumed them.

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

Fire spread from her own branches and consumed her fruit. No strong branch remains on her, no scepter fit to rule. This is a funeral song, and a funeral song it became.