Ezekiel 17

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

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

2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto 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 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:

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 topmost of the young twigs thereof, 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 of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful soil; he placed it beside many waters; he 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 toward him, and the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

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 did bend its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him, from the beds of its plantation, that he might water it.

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 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 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 GOD: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing leaves may wither; even without great power or much people to pluck it up by the roots thereof?

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, being planted, 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 the LORD came unto 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? 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;

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

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 base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might 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 yet escape?

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 GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall 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 company make for him in the war, when they cast up mounts 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 For he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet hath 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 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.

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 plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed 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 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.

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 GOD: I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the topmost of his young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:

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 in the mountain of the height 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 all fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof 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 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.

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]!”