1 And the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, propound a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
3 and say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with large wings and long pinions, full of feathers of various colors, came to Lebanon and took the highest branch from the cedar.
4 He cropped off its topmost young twig and carried it to a land of trade; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 Then he took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a fertile field; he placed it by abundant waters and set it like a willow tree.
6 And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature; its branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him. So it became a vine, brought forth branches, and put forth shoots.
7 There was another great eagle with large wings and many feathers; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and stretched its branches toward him, away from the garden terrace where it had been planted, that he might water it.
8 It was planted in good soil by many waters, to bring forth branches, bear fruit, and become a majestic vine.
9 Say, Thus says the Lord Jehovah: Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots, cut off its fruit, and leave it to wither? All of its sprouting leaves will wither, and no great power or many people will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.
10 Behold, being planted, will it prosper? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the garden terrace where it sprouted.
11 Moreover the Word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
12 Say now to the rebellious house: Do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon has come to Jerusalem and has taken its king and rulers, and led them with him to Babylon.
13 And he has taken the kings seed, made a covenant with him, and put him under oath. He also has taken away the mighty of the land,
14 that the kingdom might be low, that it might not lift itself up, but that by the keeping of his covenant it might stand.
15 But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?
16 As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, there he shall die with him in the midst of Babylon.
17 Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, when they heap up a siege mound and build a wall to cut off many persons.
18 Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and in fact gave his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus says the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense upon his own head.
20 And I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and judge him there for the treason by which he betrayed Me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be scattered to every wind. And you shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken.
22 Thus says the Lord Jehovah: I will take also one of the highest branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
23 On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. And under it will dwell birds of every wing; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; I, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it.