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Identify the explicit claims before importing later doctrine or assumptions.
EZEKIEL • CHAPTER 19
Ezekiel 19
Exile, visions, symbolic acts, divine glory, judgment, individual responsibility, restoration, and an idealized future temple.
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Ezekiel 19
WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE
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1
“Moreover, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
2
and say,
‘What was your mother?
A lioness.
She couched among lions,
in the middle of the young lions she nourished her cubs.
‘What was your mother?
A lioness.
She couched among lions,
in the middle of the young lions she nourished her cubs.
3
She brought up one of her cubs.
He became a young lion.
He learned to catch the prey.
He devoured men.
He became a young lion.
He learned to catch the prey.
He devoured men.
4
The nations also heard of him.
He was taken in their pit;
and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
He was taken in their pit;
and they brought him with hooks to the land of Egypt.
5
“ ‘Now when she saw that she had waited,
and her hope was lost,
then she took another of her cubs,
and made him a young lion.
and her hope was lost,
then she took another of her cubs,
and made him a young lion.
6
He went up and down among the lions.
He became a young lion.
He learned to catch the prey.
He devoured men.
He became a young lion.
He learned to catch the prey.
He devoured men.
7
He knew their palaces,
and laid waste their cities.
The land was desolate,
with its fullness,
because of the noise of his roaring.
and laid waste their cities.
The land was desolate,
with its fullness,
because of the noise of his roaring.
8
Then the nations attacked him on every side from the provinces.
They spread their net over him.
He was taken in their pit.
They spread their net over him.
He was taken in their pit.
9
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 should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.
and brought him to the king of Babylon.
They brought him into strongholds,
so that his voice should no more be heard on the mountains of Israel.
10
“ ‘Your mother was like a vine
in your blood,
planted by the waters.
It was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
in your blood,
planted by the waters.
It was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.
11
It had strong branches for the scepters of those who ruled.
Their stature was exalted among the thick boughs.
They were seen in their height
with the multitude of their branches.
Their stature was exalted among the thick boughs.
They were seen in their height
with the multitude of their branches.
12
But it was plucked up in fury.
It was cast down to the ground,
and the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branches were broken off and withered.
The fire consumed them.
It was cast down to the ground,
and the east wind dried up its fruit.
Its strong branches were broken off and withered.
The fire consumed them.
13
Now it is planted in the wilderness,
in a dry and thirsty land.
in a dry and thirsty land.
14
Fire has gone out of its branches.
It has devoured its fruit,
so that there is in it no strong branch to be a scepter to rule.’
This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.”
It has devoured its fruit,
so that there is in it no strong branch to be a scepter to rule.’
This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.”
PROPHETIC
Where this chapter fits
Ezekiel uses prophetic or apocalyptic language shaped by political crisis, judgment, hope, symbolic imagery, and expectations about God's action in history.
Chapter numbers were added long after the biblical books were written.
Read this chapter together with what comes immediately before and after it.
ANCIENT TEXT, MODERN QUESTIONS
Historical claims should be compared with historical evidence.
Scientific claims should be compared with science.
Moral claims should be examined morally.
Theological claims require theological and philosophical argument.
QUESTIONS WORTH ASKING
Don't skip the hard parts.
What kind of literature is this?
Narrative, poetry, prophecy, law, letters, wisdom, and apocalypse communicate differently.
What historical evidence matters?
Ask whether names, places, institutions, events, customs, and chronology can be independently investigated.
What are the strongest competing interpretations?
Compare serious Jewish, Christian, academic, and skeptical readings rather than caricatures.
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