Chapter 17
1 The LORD ’s word came to me , saying ,
2 " Son of man , tell a riddle , and speak a parable to the house of Israel ;
3 and 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.
4 He 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 .
6 It 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 .
8 It 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 .
10 Yes , 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 ."’"
11 Moreover 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.
13 He 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,
14 that the kingdom might be brought low , that it might not lift itself up , but that by keeping his covenant it might stand .
15 But 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 .
17 Pharaoh 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 .
18 For 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 .
20 I 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 .
21 All 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 .
23 I 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 .
24 All 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 .’"