The word of the LORD came to me: “Son of man, propound a riddle,
and speak a parable to the house of Israel; say, Thus says the Lord
GOD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, rich in
plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took the top of the
cedar. He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it
to a land of trade and set it in a city of merchants. Then he took
of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed
it beside abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig, and it
sprouted and became a low spreading vine, and its branches turned
toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a
vine and produced branches and put out boughs.
“And there was another great eagle with great wings and much
plumage, and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and shot
forth its branches toward him from the bed where it was planted,
that he might water it. It had been planted on good soil by
abundant waters, that it might produce branches and bear fruit and
become a noble vine.
“Say, Thus says the Lord GOD: Will it thrive? Will he not pull up
its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it withers, so that all
its fresh sprouting leaves wither? It will not take a strong arm or
many people to pull it from its roots. Behold, it is planted; will
it thrive? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes
it—wither away on the bed where it sprouted?”
Then the word of the LORD came to me: “Say now to the rebellious
house, Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, behold,
the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her
princes and brought them to him to Babylon. And he took one of the
royal offspring and made a covenant with him, putting him under
oath (the chief men of the land he had taken away), that the
kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up, and keep his
covenant that it might stand. But he rebelled against him by
sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses
and a large army. Will he thrive? Can one escape who does such
things? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?
“As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the
king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose
covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die. Pharaoh with
his mighty army and great company will not help him in war, when
mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives. He
despised the oath in breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his
hand and did all these things; he shall not escape. Therefore thus
says the Lord GOD: As I live, surely it is my oath that he
despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his
head. I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my
snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with
him there for the treachery he has committed against me. And all
the pick of his troops shall fall by the sword, and the survivors
shall be scattered to every wind, and you shall know that I am the
LORD; I have spoken.”
Thus says the Lord GOD: “I myself will take a sprig from the
lofty top of the cedar and will set it out. I will break off from
the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I myself will
plant it on a high and lofty mountain. On the mountain height of
Israel will I plant it, that it may bear branches and produce fruit
and become a noble cedar. And under it will dwell every kind of
bird; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest.
And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD; I
bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the
green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the LORD; I have
spoken, and I will do it.”
