Ezekiel 17:1–5

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar, 4 he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders.

5 “ ‘He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water,

1 And the word of the Lord 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 God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: 4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants. 5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.

1 Then this message came to me from the Lord: 2 “Son of man, give this riddle, and tell this story to the people of Israel. 3 Give them this message from the Sovereign Lord:

“A great eagle with broad wings and long feathers,

covered with many-colored plumage,

came to Lebanon.

He seized the top of a cedar tree

4 and plucked off its highest branch.

He carried it away to a city filled with merchants.

He planted it in a city of traders.

5 He also took a seedling from the land

and planted it in fertile soil.

He placed it beside a broad river,

where it could grow like a willow tree.

1 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“A great eagle with large wings and long pinions,

Full of feathers of various colors,

Came to Lebanon

And took from the cedar the highest branch.

4 He cropped off its topmost young twig

And carried it to a land of trade;

He set it in a city of merchants.

5 Then he took some of the seed of the land

And planted it in a fertile field;

He placed it by abundant waters

And set it like a willow tree.

1 The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: 2 “Human, give a riddle and tell a story to the people of Israel. 3 Say, ‘This is what the Lord God says: A giant eagle with big wings and long feathers of many different colors came to Lebanon and took hold of the top of a cedar tree. 4 He pulled off the top branch and brought it to a land of traders, where he planted it in a city of traders.

5 “ ‘The eagle took some seed from the land and planted it in a good field near plenty of water. He planted it to grow like a willow tree.

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.

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, long-pinioned, full of feathers, which was of divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar. 4 He cropped off the top of its young shoots, and carried it into a merchants’ land; he set it in a city of traders. 5 And he took of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, he set it as a willow tree.

1 The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, 2 “Son of man, tell this riddle. Give this illustration to the nation of Israel. 3 Say, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: A large eagle came to Lebanon. It had large wings with long, colorful feathers. It took hold of the top of a cedar tree. 4 It broke off the highest twig and carried it to a country of merchants. It planted the twig in a city of merchants. 

5 “ ‘Then it took a seedling from that country and planted the seedling in fertile soil. The eagle planted the seedling like a willow where there was plenty of water.

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, pose a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel. 3 You are to say: This is what the Lord God says:

A great eagle with great wings, long pinions,

and full plumage of many colors

came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.

4 He plucked off its topmost shoot,

brought it to the land of merchants,

and set it in a city of traders.

5 Then he took some of the land’s seed

and put it in a fertile field;

he set it like a willow,

a plant by abundant waters.

1 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 O mortal, propound a riddle and speak an allegory to the house of Israel. 3 Say: Thus says the Lord God:

A great eagle with great wings and long pinions,

rich in plumage of many colors,

came to the Lebanon.

He took the top of the cedar,

4 broke off its topmost shoot;

he carried it to a land of trade,

set it in a city of merchants.

5 Then he took a seedling from the land,

placed it in fertile soil;

a plant by abundant waters,

he set it like a willow twig.

1 And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, tell a riddle and quote a proverb to the house of Israel, 3 and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “The great eagle with great wings and long feathers and full of variegated plumage came to Lebanon and he took the treetop of the cedar. 4 He plucked the top of its new plant shoot, and he brought it to the land of Canaan and put it in a city of merchants, 5 and he took from the seed of the land and placed it in fertile soil on many waters; like a willow he planted it.

1 A message came to me from the Lord. He said, 2 “Son of man, tell the people of Israel a story about their kings. Let them know what will happen to them. 3 Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “A great eagle came to the city of ‘Lebanon.’ It had powerful wings and a lot of long feathers. The feathers were colorful and beautiful. The eagle landed in the top of a cedar tree. 4 It broke off the highest twig. It carried it away to Babylonia. There are many traders in that land. The eagle planted the twig in the city of Babylon.

5 “ ‘ “Then it got a seed from your land. It put it in rich soil near plenty of water. It planted the seed like a willow tree.

1 Now the word of the Lord came to me saying,

2 “Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel,

3 saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “A great eagle with great wings, long pinions and a full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar.

4 “He plucked off the topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a city of traders.

5 “He also took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside abundant waters; he set it like a willow.