Ezekiel 17

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

And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying:

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

'Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house 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,

and say: Thus saith the Lord GOD: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took 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 cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof, and carried it into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.

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 also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters, he set it as a slip.

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.

And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose tendrils might turn toward him, and the roots thereof be under him; so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

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,

There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and, behold, this vine did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might 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.

It was planted in a good soil by many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a stately 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.

Say thou: Thus saith the Lord GOD: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither, yea, wither in all its sprouting leaves? neither shall great power or much people be at hand when it is plucked up by the roots thereof.

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.”

Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? In the beds where it grew it shall wither.'

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

Moreover the word of the LORD came unto 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.

'Say now to the rebellious house: Know ye not what these things mean? tell them: Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and brought them to 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,

and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him, and brought him under an oath, and the mighty of the land he took away;

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

that his might be a lowly kingdom, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.

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?

But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?

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, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

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.

Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company succour him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many souls;

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.

seeing he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.

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?

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD: As I live, surely Mine oath that he hath despised, and My covenant that he hath broken, I will even bring it upon his own head.

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.

And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be taken in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his treachery that he hath committed against 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.

And all his mighty men in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind; and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it.

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.

Thus saith the Lord GOD: Moreover I will take, even I, of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent;

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.

in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a stately cedar; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing, in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

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]!”

And all the trees of the field shall 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 to flourish; I the LORD have spoken and have done it.'