Ezekiel 17

1 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;3 and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:4 he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof, and carried it unto a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he set it as a willow-tree.6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it.8 It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or much people can it be raised from the roots thereof.10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew.11 Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon:13 and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;14 that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?16 As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.18 For he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet hath done all these things; he shall not escape.19 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, I will even bring it upon his own head.20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.21 And all his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind: and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it.22 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain:23 in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shade of the branches thereof shall they dwell.24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish; I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it.

EZEKIEL 17

A Story about Two Eagles //and a Vine

1 The [Lord] said:
2 Ezekiel, son of man, tell the people of Israel the following story,

3 so they will understand what I am saying to them:
A large eagle with strong wings and beautiful feathers once flew to Lebanon. It broke the top branch off a cedar tree, 4 then carried it to a nation of merchants and left it in one of their cities. 5 The eagle also took a seed from Israel and planted it in a fertile field with plenty of water, like a willow tree beside a stream.t

6 The seed sprouted and grew into a grapevine that spread over the ground. It had lots of leaves and strong, deep roots, and its branches grew upward toward the eagle.
7 There was another eagle with strong wings and thick feathers. The roots and branches of the grapevine soon turned toward this eagle, hoping it would bring water for the soil.

8 But the vine was already growing in fertile soil, where there was plenty of water to produce healthy leaves and large grapes.
9 Now tell me, Ezekiel, do you think this grapevine will live? Or will the first eagle pull it up by its roots and pluck off the grapes and let its new leaves die? The eagle could easily kill it without the help of a large and powerful army.

10 The grapevine is strong and healthy, but as soon as the scorching desert wind blows, it will quickly wither.

The [Lord] Explains the Story

11 The [Lord] said:

12  t Ezekiel, ask the rebellious people of Israel if they know what this story means.
Tell them that the king of Babylonia came to Jerusalem, then he captured the king of Judaht and his officials, and took them back to Babylon as prisoners. 13 He chose someone from the family of Judah's kingt and signed a treaty with him, then made him swear to be loyal. He also led away other important citizens,

14 so that the rest of the people of Judah would obey only him and never gain control of their own country again.

15 But this new king of Judah later rebelled against Babylonia and sent officials to Egypt to get horses and troops. Will this king be successful in breaking the treaty with Babylonia? Or will he be punished for what he's done?
16 As surely as I am the living [Lord] God, I swear that the king of Judah will die in Babylon, because he broke the treaty with the king of Babylonia, who appointed him king. 17 Even the king of Egypt and his powerful army will be useless to Judah when the Babylonians attack and build towers and dirt ramps to destroy the cities of Judah and its people.

18 The king of Judah broke his own promises and ignored the treaty with Babylonia. And so he will be punished!
19 He made a promise in my name and swore to honor the treaty. And now that he has broken that promise, my name is disgraced. He must pay for what he's done. 20 I will spread out a net to trap him. Then I will drag him to Babylon and see that he is punished for his unfaithfulness to me.

21 His best troopst will be killed in battle, and the survivors will be scattered in every direction. I, the [Lord], have spoken.

22 Someday, I, the [Lord],
will cut a tender twig
from the top of a cedar tree,
then plant it on the peak
of Israel's tallest mountain,

23 where it will grow
strong branches
and produce large fruit.
All kinds of birds will find
shelter under the tree,
and they will rest in the shade
of its branches.

24 Every tree in the forest
will know that I, the [Lord],
can bring down tall trees
and help short ones grow.
I dry up green trees
and make dry ones green.
I, the [Lord], have spoken,
and I will keep my word.