Ezekiel 17–19

Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

17And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{a 2}“Son of man,^b tell a riddle and quote a proverb to the house of Israel, ³and you must say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “The great eagle with great wings and long feathers^c and full of variegated plumage^d came to Lebanon and he took the treetop of the cedar. ⁴He 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, ⁵and he took from the seed of the land and placed it in fertile soil^e on^f many waters; like a willow he planted it. ⁶And it sprouted, and it became a vine spreading out,^g low of height, turning its branches to him, and its roots were under it, and it became a vine,^h and it madeⁱ branches, and it sent out foliage.

⁷“ ‘ “And there was another great eagle, great of wings and with abundant plumage, and look! This vine stretched out its roots toward him and extended its branches to him to water it from the garden bed where it was planted.^{j 8}It was planted in^k a good field by^l many waters^m to produce branchesⁿ and to bear fruit to become^o a beautiful vine.” ’^{p 9}Say, ‘Thus says the Lord Yahweh: “Will it prosper? Will he not tear out its roots, and will he not make its fruit scaly, and it will wither, and all of the freshness of its vegetation will dry up? And to lift it from its roots will not require great strength or many people.^{q 10}And look! Though it is planted, will it prosper? When the east wind strikes it,^r will it not dry up completely? On the garden bed of its vegetation it will dry up!” ’ ”

¹¹And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ¹²“Say now to the rebellious house of Israel, ‘Do you not know what these are?’^s Say, ‘Look! The king of Babylon will come to Jerusalem, and he will take its king and its officials, and he will bring^t them to himself,^u to Babylon. ¹³And he took from the seed of the kingship, and he made with him a covenant, and he brought him under oath,^v and he took the rulers of the land, ¹⁴so that they would be a humble kingdom and not lift itself up to keep his covenant in order for it to stand.^{w 15}But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers to Egypt to give to him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he escape doing these things, and can he break the covenant and escape? ¹⁶As I live,’^x declares^y the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely^z in the place of the king who made^a him king, who despised his oath and who broke his covenant with him—in the midst of Babylon he will die. ¹⁷And not with a great army and with a great crowd will Pharaoh work^b with him in the war, at the pouring out of a siege ramp and the building of siege works to destroy many lives. ¹⁸And he despised the oath to break covenant. And, look, he gave his hand in pledge, and yet he did all of these things. He will not escape.’ ¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘As I live,^c surely^d my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke I will return upon his head. ²⁰And I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my hunting net, and I will bring him to Babylon, and I will enter into judgment with him there about his infidelity that he displayed against me. ²¹And all of his choice troops, among all of his troops, they will fall by the sword, and those who are remaining,^e they will be scattered to all the directions of the wind, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have spoken.’ ²²Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘And I will take, even I, from the treetop of the high cedar, and I will plant it, from the head of its new plant shoot I will pluck a tender one, and I will plant it, even I, on a high and lofty mountain. ²³On the height of the mountain of Israel I will plant it, and it will carry^f branches,^g and it will bear fruit, and it will become a noble cedar,^h and all of the birds of all wingsⁱ will dwell under it in the shade of its branches. ²⁴And all of the trees of the field will know that I, Yahweh, I will bring low a high tree, and I will exalt a low, fresh tree, and I will make a dry tree flourish. I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will do it.’ ”

God’s Just Treatment of Individuals, Both Righteous and Wicked

18And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,^{a 2}“What do you mean by^b quoting this proverb about the land of Israel, saying,^c ‘The fathers, they ate unripe fruit, and the teeth of the child became blunt.’^{d 3}As I live,^e declares^f the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be appropriate for you^g to quote this proverb in Israel! ⁴Look! All lives are mine.^h The lives of father and son alike are mine.ⁱ The person^j sinning will die. ⁵And if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness, ⁶and on the mountains he does not eat and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile and he does not approach a woman of^k menstruation, ⁷and he oppresses no one^l and he returns a pledge for his loan and he commits no robbery^m and he givesⁿ his bread to the hungry and he covers a naked person with a garment, ⁸and he does not charge interest^o and he takes no usury, and he holds back^p his hand from injustice and he executes a judgment of fairness between persons,^{q 9}and in my statutes he goes about and my regulations he keeps,^r performing faithfully^s —then he is righteous, and certainly he will live,” declares^t the Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰“And now he has a son, a violent one, who sheds blood^u and does any of these things^{v 11}(though^w he^x did not do all of these things), for the son also^y eats on the mountains and he defiles the wife of his neighbor. ¹²He oppresses the needy and the poor, and he commits robbery,^z and he does not return a pledge for a loan, and he lifts his eyes to the idols so he does a detestable thing. ¹³He charges interest^a and takes usury. Then, shall he live? He shall not live, for he did all of these detestable things. Surely he will die! His blood will be on him.

¹⁴“And look! He has a son, and he sees all of the sin of his father that he did, and he sees it, but he does not do it. ¹⁵On the mountains he does not eat, and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile. ¹⁶And he oppresses no one; he requires no pledge for a loan, and he does not commit robbery;^b he gives his bread to the hungry, and he covers the naked person with a garment. ¹⁷He brings back^c his hand from iniquity;^d he does not take interest and usury; he does my regulations; he goes^e in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live! ¹⁸Because his father oppressed severely;^f he stole from his brother;^g that which is not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through^h his guilt.

¹⁹“Yetⁱ you say, ‘Why does the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ And since the son does justice and righteousness and he keeps all of my statutes and does them, he shall surely live! ²⁰The person,^j the one sinning, will die. A son shall not bear the guilt of the father, and a father shall not bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him; the wickedness of the wicked^k shall be on him. ²¹But if the wicked returns from all of his sins^l that he has done and he keeps all of my statutes and he does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die! ²²All of his transgressions that he committed will not be remembered against^m him. Throughⁿ his righteousness that he has done he shall live. ²³Have I delight by any means^o in the death of the wicked, declares^p the Lord Yahweh, and not at his turning from his way, so that^q he lives? ²⁴And when the righteous turns^r from his righteousness, so that^s he does injustice, and does all of the detestable things that the wicked do, then^t will he live because of all of his righteousness^u that he did? Those things will not be remembered because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his sin that he committed.^v Through^w them he shall die.

²⁵“Yet^x you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Listen, now, house of Israel, is my way not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair? ²⁶When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and he does injustice, then^y he will die because of them; because of his injustice that he did he will die! ²⁷And when the wicked turns from his wickedness that he did and he does justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life.^{z 28}And if he sees and he returns from all of his transgressions that he did, surely he will live; he will not die! ²⁹And yet they, the house of Israel, say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Are not my ways fair, house of Israel? Are not your ways unfair?^a

³⁰“Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one^b according to his ways,” declares^c the Lord Yahweh. “Repent^d and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you. ³¹Throw away from yourselves^e all of your transgressions that you committed,^f and make for yourselves^g a new heart and new spirit, and so why will you die, house of Israel? ³²For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying,” declares^h the Lord Yahweh. “And so repentⁱ and live!”

Lament for the Leaders of Israel

19“And you, raise a lament about^a the leaders of Israel, ²and you must say,

‘What a lioness was your mother

among the lions.

She lay down in the midst of young lions,

and she reared her lion cubs.

³And she raised up one from her cubs;

he became a fierce lion,

and he learned to tear prey;

he ate^b humans.^c

⁴And nations heard about him;

in their pit he was caught,

and they brought him with hooks

to the land of Egypt.

⁵And she saw^d that she was waiting in vain;

her hope was destroyed,

and she took one from her cubs,

and she made him a fierce lion.

⁶And he walked about in the midst of lions;

he became a fierce lion,

and he learned to tear prey;

he ate^e humans.^f

⁷And he knew their widows,^g

and he devastated their cities,

and the land was appalled,…