Ezekiel 19:1-14

“Now Ezekiel, sing this funeral song to mourn the rulers of Israel, saying, “ ‘What a lioness was your mother among lions! She lay down among the young lions and reared her cubs. One of the cubs she raised grew into a young and powerful man-eating lion who learned to hunt and devour his prey. The nations heard about him, and they trapped him in their pit. With hooks they dragged him off to Egypt. When she realized that he was not coming back, she despaired and her hopes were dashed. She chose another of her cubs to take his place and made a powerful lion of him too. He prowled among the pride and grew into a powerful man-eating lion, who learned to hunt and devour his prey. He demolished their strongholds and destroyed their cities. Whenever the lion released his roar, the land and all the people were terrified! The nations marched out against him from all around. They threw their net over him, and he was trapped in their pit. With their hooks they captured him, led him with bands around his neck to the king of Babylon. They threw him into a dungeon so that his roar could never be heard again on the mountains of Israel. “ ‘Your mother was like a grapevine planted beside a stream, with luscious fruit and full of branches, because the water flowed so abundantly. She grew strong branches, and some grew very high, which became royal scepters. The vine grew higher and higher, up into the clouds. Everyone could see her towering height and the vast number of her branches. But disaster struck the vine. Angry, mighty hands pulled it up by its roots and threw it to the ground. The hot east wind dried it up, and her fruit shriveled and fell to the ground. Her strong stem was withered and was consumed by the fire. Now what remains of her has been transplanted to the desert, to a dry and thirsty land. Fire spread from her stem and devoured its fruit. There is not a strong branch left that could become a scepter for a king.’ ”