Ezekiel 17

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.”