Ezekiel 17
1 And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:
And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
“Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use an allegory to the house of Israel,
3 and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle, with great wings, with long feathers, full of plumage, which had divers colors, came to Lebanon, and took the highest branch of a cedar.
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,
4 He cropped off the top of its young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.
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.
5 He took also one of the shoots of the land, and put it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow-tree.
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.
6 And it grew and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned towards him, and whose roots were under him. It became a vine, that brought forth branches, and shot forth boughs.
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.
7 There was also another great eagle, with great wings and many feathers; and, behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, that he might water it from the beds where it was planted.
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,
8 And yet it was planted in a good soil, by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, and be a goodly vine.
On a good field, by many waters, it is planted, to make branches, and to bear fruit, to be for a good vine.
9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? Shall not he pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it wither? In all the leaves of its branching shall it wither; even without a mighty arm, or many people, shall he pluck it up by the roots.
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.
10 Yea, behold, it is planted; but shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew.
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.”
11 Moreover, the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:
And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,
12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? Say, behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes, and led them with him to Babylon,
“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.
13 and took one of the king's offspring, and made a covenant with him, and took an oath of him, and the mighty of the land he took away,
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,
14 that the kingdom might be brought low, so as not to lift itself up; that the covenant might be kept, and stand.
That the kingdom may be humble, That it may not lift itself up, To keep his covenant—that it may stand.
15 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 be delivered?
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?
16 As I live saith the Lord Jehovah, 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 shall he die.
[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?
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great multitude accomplish anything for him in war, when they shall cast up mounds, and build forts to cut off many persons,
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.
18 he hath despised the oath, and broken the covenant; behold, he hath given the hand, and yet done all these things; he shall not escape!
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.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As I live, surely mine oath, which he hath despised, and my covenant, which he hath broken, will I recompense upon his own head.
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?
20 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 contend with him there for his trespass which he hath committed against me.
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.
21 And all his fugitives with all his hosts shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered to all the winds; and ye shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken it.
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.
22 Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: I also will take from the top of the high cedar, and will get it; and from the highest of its twigs will I crop a tender one, and plant it upon a high and lofty mountain.
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.
23 Upon a high mountain of Israel will I plant it, and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar; and under it shall dwell birds of every wing; in the shadow of its branches shall they dwell.
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.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree, and exalted the low tree; that I have dried up the green tree, and made the dry tree green. I, Jehovah, have spoken, and will do it.
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]!”
