Ezequiel 17

¹ And the word of LORD came to me, saying,

² Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

³ and say, Thus says lord LORD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had various colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar.

⁴ He cropped off the topmost of the young twigs of it, and carried it to a land of merchandise. 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 of it 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 bent 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 says lord LORD: Shall it flourish? Shall he not pull up the roots of it, and cut off the fruit of it, that it may wither? It shall wither in all its fresh springing leaves, even without great power or many people to

¹⁰ Yea, behold, being planted, shall it flourish? Shall it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew.

¹¹ Moreover the word of LORD came to 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 of it, and the rulers of it, 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 many people. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape who does such things? Shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?

¹⁶ As I live, says lord LORD, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

¹⁷ Nor 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 has despised the oath by breaking the covenant. And, behold, he had given his hand, and yet has done all these things. He shall not escape.

¹⁹ Therefore thus says lord LORD: As I live, surely my oath that he has despised, and my covenant that he has 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 has trespassed against me.

²¹ And all his fugitives in all his groups shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered toward every wind. And ye shall know that I, LORD, have spoken it.

²² Thus says lord LORD: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it. I will crop off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs, and I will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain.

²³ I will plant it in the mountain of the height of Israel, and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar. And all birds of every wing shall dwell under it; they shall dwell in the shade of the branches thereo

²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I, LORD, 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, LORD, have spoken and have done it.