EzekielChapter 17

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¹The word of the LORD came to me. He said, ²"Son of man, give a riddle. Tell a story with a meaning to the house of Israel. ³Tell them this is what the Lord GOD says: 'A great eagle came to Lebanon. He had huge wings and long feathers. His feathers were full of many colors. He took away the top of the cedar tree. ⁴He broke off its highest twig. He carried it to a land of merchants. He planted it in a city of traders. ⁵He took some of the seed of the land. He planted it in rich soil. He put it by plenty of water and planted it like a willow. ⁶It sprouted and became a vine that spread out low on the ground. Its branches turned toward him. But its roots stayed where it was planted. So it became a vine. It grew branches and sent out shoots. ⁷But there was another great eagle. He had huge wings and many feathers. And look! This vine bent its roots toward him. It stretched out its branches to him from the bed where it was planted. It wanted him to water it. ⁸It had been planted in good soil by plenty of water. It was planted so it would grow branches and bear fruit. It could have become a beautiful vine.' ⁹So tell them this is what the Lord GOD says: 'Will it grow well? Won't it be pulled up by the roots? Won't its fruit be stripped off so that it dries up? All its leaves will wither! It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by its roots. ¹⁰Even if it is planted somewhere else, will it grow well? Won't it dry up completely when the east wind hits it? It will wither in the bed where it sprouted.'" ¹¹Then the word of the LORD came to me. He said, ¹²"Now say to this rebellious house, 'Don't you know what these things mean?' Tell them, 'Look, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem. He took away its king and its officials. He brought them back with him to Babylon. ¹³He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him. He made him swear an oath. Then he took away the leading men of the land. ¹⁴He did this so the kingdom would be made weak and would not be able to rise up again. It could survive only by keeping his covenant. ¹⁵But this king rebelled against the king of Babylon. He sent messengers to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still escape?' ¹⁶'As surely as I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'he will die in Babylon. He will die in the land of the king who put him on the throne. He hated that king's oath and broke his covenant. ¹⁷Pharaoh, with his mighty army and huge crowd of soldiers, will not help him in battle when ramps are built and siege walls are set up to kill many people. ¹⁸He treated the oath with contempt by breaking the covenant. He gave his hand to make a promise, but then he did all these things. He will not escape!' ¹⁹So this is what the Lord GOD says: 'As surely as I live, I will bring down on his head my oath that he hated and my covenant that he broke. ²⁰I will throw my net over him. He will be caught in my trap. I will bring him to Babylon and judge him there. I will punish him for being unfaithful to me. ²¹All his best troops will be killed by the sword. Those who are left will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.' ²²This is what the Lord GOD says: 'I myself will take a shoot from the very top of the cedar tree, and I will plant it. I will break off a tender twig from its highest branches. I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. ²³I will plant it on the high mountains of Israel. It will grow branches and bear fruit. It will become a mighty cedar. Birds of every kind will nest under it. They will find shelter in the shade of its branches. ²⁴Then all the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD. I bring the tall tree down, and I make the low tree tall. I dry up the green tree, and I make the dry tree grow well. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I have done it.'"