Ezekiel 17–19

The Eagles and the Vine

17And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ²“Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a ^aparable to the house of Israel, ³and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

^b“A great eagle with large wings and long pinions,

Full of feathers of various colors,

Came to Lebanon

And ^ctook from the cedar the highest branch.

⁴He cropped off its topmost young twig

And carried it to a land of trade;

He set it in a city of merchants.

⁵Then he took some of the seed of the land

And planted it in ^da fertile field;

He placed it by abundant waters

And set it ^elike a willow tree.

⁶And it grew and became a spreading vine ^fof low stature;

Its branches turned toward him,

But its roots were under it.

So it became a vine,

Brought forth branches,

And put forth shoots.

⁷“But there was ¹another great eagle with large wings and many feathers;

And behold, ^gthis vine bent its roots toward him,

And stretched its branches toward him,

From the garden terrace where it had been planted,

That he might water it.

⁸It was planted in ²good soil by many waters,

To bring forth branches, bear fruit,

And become a majestic vine.” ’

⁹“Say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:

“Will it thrive?

^hWill he not pull up its roots,

Cut off its fruit,

And leave it to wither?

All of its spring leaves will wither,

And no great power or many people

Will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.

¹⁰Behold, it is planted,

Will it thrive?

ⁱWill it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it?

It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew.” ’ ”

¹¹Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ¹²“Say now to ^jthe rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Indeed ^kthe king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and took its king and princes, and led them with him to Babylon. ^13lAnd he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, ^mand put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, ¹⁴that the kingdom might be ⁿbrought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. ¹⁵But ^ohe rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, ^pthat they might give him horses and many people. ^qWill he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?

¹⁶‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely ^rin the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke—with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. ^17sNor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, ^twhen they heap up a siege mound and build a ³wall to cut off many persons. ¹⁸Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and in fact ^ugave ⁴his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.’ ”

¹⁹Therefore thus says the Lord God: “As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head. ²⁰I will ^vspread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and ^wtry him there for the ⁵treason which he committed against Me. ^21xAll his ⁶fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be ^yscattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Israel Exalted at Last

²²Thus says the Lord God: “I will take also one of the highest ^zbranches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs ^aa tender one, and will ^bplant it on a high and prominent mountain. ^23cOn the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. ^dUnder it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell. ²⁴And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, ^ehave brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; ^fI, the Lord, have spoken and have done it.”

A False Proverb Refuted

18The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, ²“What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:

‘The ^afathers have eaten sour grapes,

And the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

³“As I live,” says the Lord God, “you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.

⁴“Behold, all souls are ^bMine;

The soul of the father

As well as the soul of the son is Mine;

^cThe soul who sins shall die.

⁵But if a man is just

And does what is lawful and right;

^6dIf he has not eaten ¹on the mountains,

Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,

Nor ^edefiled his neighbor’s wife,

Nor approached ^fa woman during her impurity;

⁷If he has not ^goppressed anyone,

But has restored to the debtor his ^hpledge;

Has robbed no one by violence,

But has ⁱgiven his bread to the hungry

And covered the naked with ^jclothing;

⁸If he has not ²exacted ^kusury

Nor taken any increase,

But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity

And ^lexecuted true ³judgment between man and man;

⁹If he has walked in My statutes—

And kept My judgments faithfully—

He is just;

He shall surely ^mlive!”

Says the Lord God.

¹⁰“If he begets a son who is a robber

Or ⁿa shedder of blood,

Who does any of these things

¹¹And does none of those duties,

But has eaten ⁴on the mountains

Or defiled his neighbor’s wife;

¹²If he has oppressed the poor and needy,

Robbed by violence,

Not restored the pledge,

Lifted his eyes to the idols,

Or ^ocommitted abomination;

¹³If he has exacted usury

Or taken increase—

Shall he then live?

He shall not live!

If he has done any of these abominations,

He shall surely die;

^pHis blood shall be upon him.

¹⁴“If, however, he begets a son

Who sees all the sins which his father has done,

And considers but does not do likewise;

^15qWho has not eaten ⁵on the mountains,

Nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,

Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife;

¹⁶Has not oppressed anyone,

Nor withheld a pledge,

Nor robbed by violence,

But has given his bread to the hungry

And covered the naked with clothing;

¹⁷Who has withdrawn his hand from ⁶the poor

And not received usury or increase,

But has executed My judgments

And walked in My statutes

He shall not die for the iniquity of his father;

He shall surely live!

¹⁸“As for his father,

Because he cruelly oppressed,

Robbed his brother by violence,

And did what is not good among his people,

Behold, ^rhe shall die for his iniquity.

Turn and Live

¹⁹“Yet you say, ‘Why ^sshould the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. ^20tThe soul who sins shall die. ^uThe son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. ^vThe righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, ^wand the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

²¹“But ^xif a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^22yNone of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall ^zlive. ^23aDo I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?

²⁴“But ^bwhen a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? ^cAll the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.

²⁵“Yet you say, ^d‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? ^26eWhen a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. ²⁷Again, ^fwhen a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. ²⁸Because he ^gconsiders and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ^29hYet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?

³⁰ⁱ“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. ^j“Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. ^31kCast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a ^lnew heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? ³²For ^mI have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and ⁿlive!”

Israel Degraded

19“Moreover ^atake up a lamentation for the princes of Israel, ²and say:

‘What is your mother? A lioness:

She lay down among the lions;

Among the young lions she nourished her cubs.

³She brought up one of her cubs,

And ^bhe became a young lion;

He learned to catch prey,

And he devoured men.

⁴The nations also heard of him;

He was trapped in their pit,

And they brought him with chains to the land of ^cEgypt.

⁵‘When she saw that she waited, that her hope was lost,

She took ^danother of her cubs and made him a young lion.

^6eHe roved among the lions,

And ^fbecame a young lion;

He learned to catch prey;

He devoured men.

⁷¹He knew their desolate places,

And laid waste their cities;

The land with its fullness was desolated

By the noise of his roaring.

^8gThen the nations set against him from the provinces on every side,

And spread their net over him;

^hHe was trapped in their pit.

⁹ⁱThey put him in a cage with ²chains,

And brought him to the king of Babylon;

They brought him in nets,

That his voice should no longer be heard on ^jthe mountains of Israel.

¹⁰‘Your mother was ^klike a vine in your ³bloodline,

Planted by the waters,

^lFruitful and full of branches

Because of many waters.

¹¹She had strong branches for scepters of rulers.

^mShe towered in stature above the thick branches,

And was seen in her height amid the ⁴dense foliage.

¹²But…