Ezekiel 17–19

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 cropped 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 ^qtoward 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 an 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.

18The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, ²What mean ye, that ^aye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ^bThe fathers have eaten sour grapes, ^band the children’s teeth are set on edge? ^3cAs I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use ^athis proverb in Israel. ⁴Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: ^dthe soul that sinneth, it shall die.

⁵But if a man be just, and do ^†ethat which is lawful and right, ⁶And hath not ^featen upon the mountains, neither ^ghath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither ^hhath defiled his neighbour’s wife, neither ⁱhath come near to ^ka menstruous woman, ⁷And hath not ^loppressed any, but ^mhath restored to the debtor his pledge, ⁿhath spoiled none by violence, ^ohath given his bread to the hungry, and ^ophath covered the naked with a garment; ^8qHe that hath not given forth upon ^rusury, neither ^qhath taken any ^sincrease, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, ^thath executed true judgment between man and man, ^9uHath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, ^vhe shall surely live, saith the Lord God.

¹⁰If he beget a son that is a ^||robber, ^wa shedder of blood, and ^||that doeth the like to any one of these things, ¹¹And that doeth not any of those duties, but even ^fhath eaten upon the mountains, and ^hdefiled his neighbour’s wife, ^12lxHath oppressed the poor and needy, ^nxhath spoiled by violence, hath not ^mrestored the pledge, and ^ghath lifted up his eyes to the idols, ^xxhath committed abomination, ^13qHath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; ^yhis ^†blood shall be upon him.

¹⁴Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and ^yyconsidereth, and doeth not such like, ¹⁵That ^fhath not eaten upon the mountains, neither ^ghath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, ^hhath not defiled his neighbour’s wife, ¹⁶Neither ^lhath oppressed any, ^†mhath not withholden the pledge, neither ⁿhath spoiled by violence, but ^ohath given his bread to the hungry, and ^ohath covered the naked with a garment, ¹⁷That ^zhath taken off his hand from the poor, ^qthat hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, ^uhath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, ^vhe shall surely live. ¹⁸As for his father, because ^ahe cruelly oppressed, ^anspoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even ^bhe shall die in his iniquity.

¹⁹Yet say ye, Why? ^cdoth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done ^dthat which is lawful and right, and ^ddhath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, ^ehe shall surely live. ^20fThe soul that sinneth, it shall die. ^gThe son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: ^hthe righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and ^hithe wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. ²¹But ^kif the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and ^ddkeep all my statutes, and ^ddo that which is lawful and right, ^ehe shall surely live, he shall not die. ^22lAll his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. ^23mHave I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

²⁴But ⁿwhen the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? ^noAll his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in ^phis trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. ^25qYet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? ²⁶ⁿWhen a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. ²⁷Again, ^kwhen the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and ^ddoeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. ²⁸Because he ^rconsidereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, ^ehe shall surely live, he shall not die. ^29qYet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?

³⁰Therefore I ^swill judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. ^tRepent, and turn ^||uyourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ^vruin. ^31wCast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you ^xa new heart and a new spirit: ^yfor why will ye die, O house of Israel? ³²For ^zI have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn ^||uyourselves, and live ye.

19Moreover ^atake thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, ²And say, What is thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among ^blions, she nourished her whelps among ^cyoung lions. ³And she brought up one of her whelps: ^dit became ^ca young lion, and it learned ^ddto catch the prey; ^eit devoured men. ⁴The nations also heard of him; ^fhe was taken in ^gtheir pit, and ^hthey brought him ⁱwith chains ^dunto the land of Egypt. ⁵Now when she saw that she had ^jwaited, and her hope was lost, then she took ^kanother of her whelps, and made him ^ca young lion. ⁶And he went up and down among the lions, ^dhe ^lbecame a young lion, ^land learned to catch the prey, ^land devoured men. ⁷And he knew ^||mtheir desolate…