Ezekiel 17

1 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

2 “Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use an allegory to the house of Israel,

“Son of man, present this riddle—share it as a parable with the people of Israel.

3 and you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH: The great eagle, great-winged, long-pinioned, Full of feathers, that has diverse colors, Has come to Lebanon, And he takes the foliage of the cedar,

Tell them that this is what the Lord God says: There was a great eagle that had large wings, long feathers, and multi-colored plumage. It came to Lebanon and took off the top of the cedar.

4 He has cropped the top of its tender twigs, And he brings it to the land of Canaan. He has placed it in a city of merchants.

He broke off its highest branch and took it to a country of merchants, and planted it in a city of traders.

5 And he takes of the seed of the land, And puts it in a field of seed, He took [it] by many waters, He has set it in a conspicuous place.

He took some of the seed of the land and planted it in good soil beside a large river where he could grow it like a willow.

6 And it springs up, and becomes a spreading vine, humble of stature, To turn its thin shoots toward itself, And its roots are under it, And it becomes a vine, and makes boughs, And sends forth beautiful branches.

The seed sprouted and grew into a low, spreading vine, with its branches facing toward him, and its roots went down into the ground beneath. So the vine developed, growing leaves and branches.

7 And there is another great eagle, Great-winged, and abounding with feathers, And behold, this vine has bent its roots toward him, And it has sent out its thin shoots toward him, To water it from the furrows of its planting,

But there was another great eagle that had large wings and many feathers. This vine sent out its roots toward him. It stretched out its branches to him from where it had been planted, wanting him to water it.

8 On a good field, by many waters, it is planted, to make branches, and to bear fruit, to be for a good vine.

Yet it had been planted in good soil beside a large river so it could grow strong, produce fruit, and become a superb vine.

9 Say, Thus said Lord YHWH: It prospers—does he not draw out its roots, And cut off its fruit, and it is withered? [In] all the leaves of its springing it withers, And not by great strength, or by numerous people, To lift it up by its roots.

So you tell them this is what the Lord God says: ‘Will it grow well? Won't it be uprooted and its fruit ripped off so that it withers? All its leaves will dry up. You wouldn't need strong arms or lots of people to pull it up by its roots.

10 And behold, the planted thing—does it prosper? When the east wind comes against it, does it not utterly wither? On the furrows of its springing it withers.”

Even if it's transplanted, is it going to survive? Won't it wither up completely when the east wind blows? In fact, it will wither right where it was planted.”

11 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

A message from the Lord came to me, saying,

12 “Now say to the house of rebellion, Have you not known what these [are]? Say, Behold, the king of Babylon has come to Jerusalem, And he takes its king, and its princes, And brings them to himself to Babylon.

“Tell these rebellious people: ‘Don't you know what this riddle means?’ Explain to them, ‘Look, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, made its king and officials his prisoners, and took them back with him to Babylon.

13 And he takes of the seed of the kingdom, And makes a covenant with him, And brings him into an oath, And he has taken the mighty of the land,

He made an agreement with one of the royal family and made him take an oath that he would be a loyal subject as king. Then he took into exile the country's leaders,

14 That the kingdom may be humble, That it may not lift itself up, To keep his covenant—that it may stand.

so that the kingdom would be kept in subjection and wouldn't be strong enough to rebel—it would only survive by keeping its agreement with him.

15 And he rebels against him, To send his messengers to Egypt, To give to him horses, and many people, Does he prosper? Does he who is doing these things escape? And has he broken covenant and escaped?

However, this king did rebel against Babylon, and sent ambassadors to Egypt to ask for help by supplying horses and many soldiers. Will he do well? Would someone who acts like this succeed? Could he break an agreement and not be punished?’

16 [As] I live—a declaration of Lord YHWH, Does he not—in the place of the king who is causing him to reign, Whose oath he has despised, And whose covenant he has broken—die with him in the midst of Babylon?

As I live, declares the Lord God, ‘he is going to die in Babylon, in the country of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he disregarded and whose agreement he broke.

17 And not with a great force, and with a numerous assembly, Does Pharaoh maintain him in battle, By pouring out a mound, and in building a fortification, To cut off many souls.

Pharaoh with his powerful army of many soldiers won't help him in battle, when attack ramps are piled up and siege walls built and many people end up being killed.

18 And he despised the oath—to break covenant, And behold, he has given his hand, And all these he has done—he does not escape.

He disregarded his oath by breaking the agreement. Because he shook hands as a sign of the promise he made, yet rebelled in this way, he won't go unpunished!’

19 Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: [As] I live—My oath that he has despised, And My covenant that he has broken, Have I not put it on his head?

So this is what the Lord God says: As I live, I will punish him for disregarding my oath and for breaking my agreement.

20 And I have spread out My snare for him, And he has been caught in My net, And I have brought him to Babylon, And judged him there [for the] trespass That he has trespassed against Me.

I will throw my net over him and catch him; I will trap in my snare. I will take him to Babylon and sentence him to punishment there for his treason towards me.

21 And all his fugitives, with all his bands, Fall by sword, and those remaining, They are spread out to every wind, And you have known that I, YHWH, have spoken.

All his best soldiers will be killed in battle, and those who do survive will be scattered in all directions. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.

22 Thus said Lord YHWH: I have taken of the foliage of the high cedar, And I have set [it], I crop a tender one from the top of its tender shoots, And I have planted [it] on a high and lofty mountain.

This is what the Lord God says: I'm going to break off a branch from the high top of the cedar, and I will plant it on the top of a high mountain.

23 In a mountain—the high place of Israel, I plant it, And it has borne boughs, and yielded fruit, And become a good cedar, And every bird of every [kind of] wing has dwelt under it, They dwell in the shade of its thin shoots.

I will plant it on Israel's high mountain so that it can grow branches, produce fruit and become a magnificent cedar. All kinds of birds will live in it, nesting in the shade of its branches.

24 And all trees of the field have known That I, YHWH, have made the high tree low, I have set the low tree on high, I have dried up the moist tree, And I have caused the dry tree to flourish, I, YHWH, have spoken, and have done [it]!”

All the trees in the countryside will know that I am the Lord. I can bring down the tall and have the low tree grow tall. I can make the green tree dry up, and make the withered tree become green again. I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it.”