Bible Strands
Ezekiel 19:1
“As for you, take up a lament for the princes of Israel
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The prophet receives a directive to compose a mourning song for Israel’s rulers. This instruction opens a section of royal elegy.
The words — The Hebrew imperative שָׂא (sa') means "take up," paired with קִינָה (ki.nah), literally "a lamentation." Together they form the command to raise a dirge.
The thread — The same prophetic directive to compose a mourning song appears in Ezekiel 27:2 for Tyre. A related mourning motif appears in Ezekiel 26:17, though that passage describes a future declaration rather than issuing a command.
Why it lands — The text demands a formal mourning over fallen leadership. Readers must recognize how royal failure triggers prophetic judgment and communal grief.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Moreover take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,
Cross-references
- Ezekiel 26:17 Then they will lament for you, saying, “How you have perished, O city of renown inhabited by seafaring men—she who was powerful on the sea, along with her people, who imposed terror on all peoples!
- Ezekiel 27:2 “Now you, son of man, take up a lament for Tyre.
- 2 Kings 23:29 During Josiah’s reign, Pharaoh Neco king of Egypt marched up to help the king of Assyria at the Euphrates River. King Josiah went out to confront him, but Neco faced him and killed him at Megiddo.
- 2 Kings 23:34 Then Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim son of Josiah king in place of his father Josiah, and he changed Eliakim’s name to Jehoiakim. But Neco took Jehoahaz and carried him off to Egypt, where he died.
- 2 Kings 24:6 And Jehoiakim rested with his fathers, and his son Jehoiachin reigned in his place.
- 2 Kings 24:12 Jehoiachin king of Judah, his mother, his servants, his commanders, and his officials all surrendered to the king of Babylon. So in the eighth year of his reign, the king of Babylon took him captive.
- 2 Kings 25:5 but the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army deserted him.
- Ezekiel 2:10 which He unrolled before me. And written on the front and back of it were words of lamentation, mourning, and woe.
- Ezekiel 19:14 Fire has gone out from its main branch and devoured its fruit; on it no strong branch remains fit for a ruler’s scepter.’ This is a lament and shall be used as a lament.”
- 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.