Ezekiel 17

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ²Son of man, ^aput forth a riddle, and ^bspeak a parable unto the house of Israel; ³and 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: ^4fhe cropt off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of ^htraffick; he set it in a city of merchants. ⁵ⁱHe 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. ⁶And 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. ⁷There 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. ⁸It 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. ⁹Say 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. ¹⁰Yea 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.

¹¹Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, ¹²Say 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; ¹³and ^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: ¹⁴that the kingdom might be ^ybase, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. ¹⁵But ^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? ^16fAs 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. ^17bNeither 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: ¹⁸seeing ^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. ¹⁹Therefore 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. ²⁰And 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. ²¹And all his fugitives with all ^qhis bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered ^qtowards all winds: and ye shall know that ^rI the Lord have spoken it.

²²Thus 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 a high mountain and eminent: ^23win 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. ²⁴And 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.

XVIII.