²“Son of man, tell this riddle. Give this illustration to the nation of Israel. ³Say, ‘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. ⁴It 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. ⁶The plant sprouted and grew into a low vine that spread over the ground. Its branches turned upward toward the eagle, but its roots grew downward. So it became a vine, producing branches and growing shoots.

⁷“ ‘There was another large eagle with large wings and many feathers. Now, the vine stretched its roots toward this eagle and sent its branches toward the eagle so that the eagle could water it. The vine turned away from the garden where it was planted. ⁸It was planted in good soil beside plenty of water so that it could grow branches, bear fruit, and become a wonderful vine.’

⁹“Tell the nation of Israel, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: Will this vine live and grow? Won’t the first eagle uproot it and tear off its fruit? Then it will wither. All the leaves on its branches will wither. It won’t take much strength or many people to pull the vine up by its roots. ¹⁰It might be planted again, but will it live and grow? It will wither completely when the east wind blows on it. It will certainly wither in the garden where it is growing.’ ”

¹¹The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, ¹²“Ask these rebellious people, ‘Don’t you know what this means?’ Tell them, ‘The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and captured its king and its leaders. He brought them home with him to Babylon. ¹³Then he took someone from the royal family, made a treaty with him, and made him promise to be loyal. He took away the leading citizens from Judah ¹⁴so that it would remain a humiliated country and be unable to regain its power. The country could only survive by keeping the treaty. ¹⁵But the king of Judah rebelled against the king of Babylon by sending his messengers to Egypt to get horses and many soldiers. Will the king of Judah succeed? Will anyone who does such things escape? He can’t break a treaty and go unpunished.

¹⁶“ ‘As I live, declares the Almighty Lord, the king of Judah will die in Babylonia. He will die in the country of the king who appointed him king of Judah. The king of Judah broke his promise and his treaty with the king of Babylon. ¹⁷Even with a large army and many people, Pharaoh will not be able to help him in battle when the Babylonians put up dirt ramps and set up blockades to kill many people. ¹⁸The king of Judah broke the promise and the treaty that he pledged to keep. He did all these things, and he can’t go unpunished.

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