¹The LORD ’s word came to me , saying ,

²“Son of man , tell a riddle , and speak a parable to the house of Israel ;

³and say, ‘The Lord GOD says : “A great eagle with great wings and long feathers , full of feathers which had various colours , came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.

⁴He cropped off the topmost of its young twigs , and carried it to a land of traffic. He planted it in a city of merchants .

⁵“‘“He also took some of the seed of the land and planted it in fruitful soil . He placed it beside many waters . He set it as a willow tree .

⁶It grew and became a spreading vine of low stature , whose branches turned towards him , and its roots were under him . So it became a vine , produced branches , and shot out sprigs .

⁷“‘“There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers . Behold , this vine bent its roots towards him , and shot out its branches towards him , from the ground where it was planted , that he might water it .

⁸It was planted in a good soil by many waters , that it might produce branches and that it might bear fruit , that it might be a good vine .”’

⁹“Say, ‘The Lord GOD says : “Will it prosper ? Won’t he pull up its roots and cut off its fruit , that it may wither , that all its fresh springing leaves may wither ? It can ’t be raised from its roots by a strong arm or many people .

¹⁰Yes , behold , being planted , will it prosper ? Won’t it utterly wither when the east wind touches it ? It will wither in the ground where it grew .”’”

¹¹Moreover the LORD ’s word came to me , saying ,

¹²“Say now to the rebellious house , ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ Tell them , ‘Behold , the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem , and took its king , and its princes , and brought them to him to Babylon.

¹³He took one of the royal offspring , and made a covenant with him . He also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land,[#17:13 or, seed]

¹⁴that the kingdom might be brought low , that it might not lift itself up , but that by keeping his covenant it might stand .

¹⁵But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt , that they might give him horses and many people . Will he prosper ? Will he who does such things escape ? Will he break the covenant , and still escape ?

¹⁶“‘As I live ,’ says the Lord GOD , ‘surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king , whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke , even with him in the middle of Babylon he will die .

¹⁷Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company won’t help him in the war , when they cast up mounds and build forts to cut off many persons .

¹⁸For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant ; and behold , he had given his hand , and yet has done all these things . He won’t escape .

¹⁹“Therefore the Lord GOD says : ‘As I live , I will surely bring on his own head my oath that he has despised and my covenant that he has broken .

²⁰I will spread my net on him , and he will be taken in my snare . I will bring him to Babylon, and will enter into judgement with him there for his trespass that he has trespassed against me .

²¹All his fugitives in all his bands will fall by the sword , and those who remain will be scattered towards every wind . Then you will know that I , the LORD , have spoken it .’

²²“The Lord GOD says : ‘I will also take some of the lofty top of the cedar, and will plant it . I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one , and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain .

²³I will plant it in the mountain of the height of Israel ; and it will produce boughs , and bear fruit , and be a good cedar. Birds of every kind will dwell in the shade of its branches .

²⁴All the trees of the field will know that I , the LORD , have brought down the high tree , have exalted the low tree , have dried up the green tree , and have made the dry tree flourish .

“‘I , the LORD , have spoken and have done it .’”