Ezekiel 19:1
New International Version
“Take up a lament concerning the princes of Israel

New Living Translation
“Sing this funeral song for the princes of Israel:

English Standard Version
And you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Berean Standard Bible
“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel

King James Bible
Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

New King James Version
“Moreover take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

New American Standard Bible
“As for you, take up a song of mourning for the leaders of Israel

NASB 1995
“As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel

NASB 1977
“As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Legacy Standard Bible
“As for you, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel

Amplified Bible
“As for you, take up a dirge (funeral poem to be sung) for the princes of Israel

Christian Standard Bible
“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now, lament for the princes of Israel

American Standard Version
Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Contemporary English Version
Ezekiel, sing a funeral song for two of Israel's leaders:

English Revised Version
Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

GOD'S WORD® Translation
Sing a funeral song for the princes of Israel.

Good News Translation
The LORD told me to sing this song of sorrow for two princes of Israel:

International Standard Version
"Now as for you, publish this mourning psalm about Israel's leaders.

Majority Standard Bible
“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel

NET Bible
"And you, sing a lament for the princes of Israel,

New Heart English Bible
"Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Webster's Bible Translation
Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

World English Bible
“Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
“And you, lift up a lamentation to princes of Israel,

Young's Literal Translation
And thou, lift up a lamentation unto princes of Israel,

Smith's Literal Translation
And thou, lift thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Catholic Public Domain Version
“And as for you, take up a lament over the leaders of Israel,

New American Bible
As for you, raise a lamentation over the princes of Israel,

New Revised Standard Version
As for you, raise up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
MOREOVER, you Son of man, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
But you, son of man, take up a lamentation for the Princes of Israel
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
Moreover, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Moreover do thou take up a lamentation for the prince of Israel,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
A Lament for the Princes of Israel
1“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel 2and say: ‘What was your mother? A lioness among the lions! She lay down among the young lions; she reared her cubs.…

Cross References
Lamentations 2:1-10
How the Lord has covered the Daughter of Zion with the cloud of His anger! He has cast the glory of Israel from heaven to earth. He has abandoned His footstool in the day of His anger. / Without pity the Lord has swallowed up all the dwellings of Jacob. In His wrath He has demolished the fortified cities of the Daughter of Judah. He brought to the ground and defiled her kingdom and its princes. / In fierce anger He has cut off every horn of Israel and withdrawn His right hand at the approach of the enemy. He has burned in Jacob like a flaming fire that consumes everything around it. ...

Hosea 10:5-8
The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn over it with its idolatrous priests—those who rejoiced in its glory—for it has been taken from them into exile. / Yes, it will be carried to Assyria as tribute to the great king. Ephraim will be seized with shame; Israel will be ashamed of its wooden idols. / Samaria will be carried off with her king like a twig on the surface of the water. ...

Isaiah 14:4-20
you will sing this song of contempt against the king of Babylon: How the oppressor has ceased, and how his fury has ended! / The LORD has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers. / It struck the peoples in anger with unceasing blows; it subdued the nations in rage with relentless persecution. ...

Jeremiah 9:17-22
This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them. / Let them come quickly and take up a lament over us, that our eyes may overflow with tears, and our eyelids may gush with water. / For the sound of wailing is heard from Zion: ‘How devastated we are! How great is our shame! For we have abandoned the land because our dwellings have been torn down.’” ...

Micah 2:4
In that day they will take up a proverb against you and taunt you with this bitter lamentation: ‘We are utterly ruined! He has changed the portion of my people. How He has removed it from me! He has allotted our fields to traitors.’”

Amos 5:1-2
Hear this word, O house of Israel, this lamentation I take up against you: / “Fallen is Virgin Israel, never to rise again. She lies abandoned on her land, with no one to raise her up.”

2 Samuel 1:17-27
Then David took up this lament for Saul and his son Jonathan, / and he ordered that the sons of Judah be taught the Song of the Bow. It is written in the Book of Jashar: / “Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the mighty have fallen! ...

2 Chronicles 35:25
Then Jeremiah lamented over Josiah, and to this day all the male and female singers recite laments over Josiah. They established them as a statute for Israel, and indeed they are written in the Book of Laments.

Jeremiah 7:29
Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.’

Isaiah 3:25-26
Your men will fall by the sword, and your warriors in battle. / And the gates of Zion will lament and mourn; destitute, she will sit on the ground.

Matthew 23:37-39
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those sent to her, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling! / Look, your house is left to you desolate. / For I tell you that you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

Luke 19:41-44
As Jesus approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it / and said, “If only you had known on this day what would bring you peace! But now it is hidden from your eyes. / For the days will come upon you when your enemies will barricade you and surround you and hem you in on every side. ...

Revelation 18:2-10
And he cried out in a mighty voice: “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a lair for demons and a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast. / All the nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth were immoral with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown wealthy from the extravagance of her luxury.” / Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues. ...

Matthew 11:17
‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

Luke 7:32
They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’


Treasury of Scripture

Moreover take you up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Take

Ezekiel 19:14
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.

Ezekiel 2:10
And he spread it before me; and it was written within and without: and there was written therein lamentations, and mourning, and woe.

Ezekiel 26:17
And they shall take up a lamentation for thee, and say to thee, How art thou destroyed, that wast inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned city, which wast strong in the sea, she and her inhabitants, which cause their terror to be on all that haunt it!

the princes

2 Kings 23:29,30,34
In his days Pharaohnechoh king of Egypt went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josiah went against him; and he slew him at Megiddo, when he had seen him…

2 Kings 24:6,12
So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead…

2 Kings 25:5-7
And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all his army were scattered from him…

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Ezekiel 19
1. A lamentation for the princes of Israel, by the parable of a lion whelping in a pit
10. and for Jerusalem, under the parable of a wasted vine














As for you
This phrase is a direct address to the prophet Ezekiel, emphasizing his role as a messenger of God. In Hebrew, the phrase is "וְאַתָּה" (ve'atah), which is a personal and emphatic call to action. It underscores the personal responsibility and divine commission given to Ezekiel. The prophet is not merely a passive recipient of God's word but an active participant in delivering God's message to the people. This highlights the intimate relationship between God and His prophets, where God entrusts them with His words to guide, warn, and instruct His people.

take up
The Hebrew word used here is "שָׂא" (sa), which means to lift, carry, or bear. This term conveys the idea of bearing a burden, which in this context is the burden of a lament. It suggests that the message Ezekiel is to deliver is not just spoken words but a weighty, emotional expression of sorrow and mourning. The prophet is called to embody the lament, to feel and express the deep grief that God feels over the situation of Israel's leaders. This act of taking up a lament is a profound demonstration of empathy and solidarity with God's heart.

a lament
The word "lament" in Hebrew is "קִינָה" (qinah), which refers to a dirge or a song of mourning. Laments were a common form of expression in ancient Near Eastern cultures, often used in funerals or times of national tragedy. They are characterized by their poetic structure and emotional depth. In the biblical context, a lament is not just an expression of grief but also a call to repentance and reflection. It serves as a reminder of the consequences of sin and the need for turning back to God. The use of a lament here indicates the seriousness of the message and the deep sorrow God feels over the state of Israel's leadership.

for the princes of Israel
The term "princes" in Hebrew is "נְשִׂיאֵי" (nesi'ei), which refers to leaders or rulers. In the context of Israel, this would include the kings and other high-ranking officials who were responsible for guiding the nation according to God's laws. The lament is specifically directed at these leaders, highlighting their failure to lead the people in righteousness. Historically, the princes of Israel often led the nation into idolatry and injustice, prompting God's judgment. This phrase serves as a sobering reminder of the responsibility that comes with leadership and the impact that leaders have on the spiritual and moral direction of a nation. The lament for the princes is both a mourning of their failures and a call for future leaders to learn from these mistakes and seek God's guidance.

Verse 1. - The two sections of this chapter - vers. 1-9, 10-14-are respectively two parables of the same type as that of Ezekiel 2:10. The former telling nearly the same story under a different imagery, the latter a reproduction of the same imagery, with a slightly different application. Lamentation. The same word as that used in Ezekiel 2:10. The whole chapter finds a parallel in Jeremiah's review of Josiah's successors (Jeremiah 22:10-30). It is noticeable that the princes are described as being of Israel. The LXX. gives the singular, "the prince," and Hitzig and Ewald adopt this reading, applying it to Zedekiah.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
As for you,
וְאַתָּה֙ (wə·’at·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Pronoun - second person masculine singular
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

take up
שָׂ֣א (śā)
Verb - Qal - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 5375: To lift, carry, take

a lament
קִינָ֔ה (qî·nāh)
Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 7015: An elegy, dirge

for
אֶל־ (’el-)
Preposition
Strong's 413: Near, with, among, to

the princes
נְשִׂיאֵ֖י (nə·śî·’ê)
Noun - masculine plural construct
Strong's 5387: An exalted one, a king, sheik, a rising mist

of Israel
יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (yiś·rā·’êl)
Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 3478: Israel -- 'God strives', another name of Jacob and his desc


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OT Prophets: Ezekiel 19:1 Moreover take up a lamentation (Ezek. Eze Ezk)
Ezekiel 18:32
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