17 *And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 2 Son of man, aput forth a riddle, and bspeak a parable unto the house of Israel; 3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; cA great eagle dwith great wings, dlongwinged, full of dfeathers, which had †divers colours, ecame unto Lebanon, and ftook gthe highest branch of the cedar: 4 fHe cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of htraffick; he set it in a city of merchants. 5 iHe took also of the seed of the land, and †planted it jin a fruitful field; he placed it kby great waters, and set it kas a willow tree. 6 And it grew, and became kka spreading vine lof low stature, mwhose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth nbranches, and shot forth osprigs. 7 There was also panother great eagle dwith great wings and many dfeathers: and, behold, pthis vine mdid bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by qthe furrows of her plantation. 8 It was planted in a good †soil by great waters, qqthat it might bring forth branches, and qqthat it might bear fruit, qqthat it might be a goodly vine. 9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. 10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? rshall it not utterly wither, when sthe east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in qthe furrows where it grew.

11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 12 Say now to tthe rebellious house, ttKnow ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, uthe king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon; 13 And vhath taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant with him, wand hath †taken an oath of him: uhe hath also taken xthe mighty of the land: 14 That the kingdom might be ybase, that it might not lift itself up, †but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. 15 But zhe rebelled against him ain sending his ambassadors abinto Egypt, cthat they might give him horses and much people. dShall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or eshall he break the covenant, and be delivered? 16 fAs I live, saith the Lord God, surely gin the place where the king dwelleth vthat made him king, ewhose oath he despised, and ewhose covenant he brake, even with him hin the midst of Babylon he shall die. 17 bNeither shall iPharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, kby casting up mounts, and kbuilding forts, to cut off many persons: 18 Seeing ehe despised the oath eby breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had lgiven his hand, and hath done all these things, ehe shall not escape. 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; fAs I live, surely emmine oath that he hath despised, and emy covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head. 20 And nI will spread my net upon him, and nhe shall be taken in my snare, and hI will bring him to Babylon, and owill plead with him there for phis trespass that he hath trespassed against me. 21 And all his fugitives with all qhis bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered qtoward all winds: and ye shall know that rI the Lord have spoken it.

22 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also stake of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will tcrop off from the top of his young twigs ua tender one, and will plant it vupon an high mountain and eminent: 23 wIn the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it: and xit shall bring forth boughs, and xbear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and yunder it shall dwell zall fowl of every wing; in the shadow of zzthe branches thereof shall they dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord ahave brought down the high tree, ahave exalted the low tree, have dried up bthe green tree, and have made bcthe dry tree to flourish: dI the Lord have spoken and have done it.