Ezekiel 17

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

Yahweh gave me another message. [He said, ]

2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

“You human, tell this story/parable [DOU] to the people [MTY] of Israel.

3 And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came to Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:

[Say to them, ] ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: A huge eagle that had strong wings and long beautiful feathers of many colors flew to Lebanon. It grasped the top of a cedar [tree]

4 He cropped off the top of its young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.

and broke it off. Then the eagle carried it away to [Babylonia], a country that had many merchants/businessmen, and planted it in one of the cities there.

5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed [it] by great waters, [and] set it [as] a willow tree.

Then that eagle took a seedling from [your] country and planted it in a fertile field. He planted it like people plant a willow tree, alongside [a stream that had] plenty of water.

6 And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned towards him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

It grew and became a low grapevine that spread [along the ground]. Its branches turned up towards the eagle, but its roots grew down into the ground. So it became a [good] vine and produced [lots of] branches and leaves.

7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine did bend her roots towards him, and shot forth her branches towards him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.

But there was another huge eagle that had strong wings and beautiful feathers. And [some of] the roots of the vine grew toward that eagle, and its branches [also] turned toward it, hoping that the eagle would bring more water to it.

8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.

[That happened in spite of the fact that] the vine had [already] been planted in good soil, where there was plenty of water, with the result that it had produced branches and produced grapes and had become a very healthy/productive vine.’

9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by its roots.

Then [after you have told that to the people, say to them, ‘This is what Yahweh the Lord says: That vine] will certainly not [RHQ] remain healthy/productive. It will be [RHQ] pulled up by its roots by the eagle [that planted it], and all its fruit will be stripped off and its leaves will wither. And it will not need someone with strong arms or many people to pull it out by its roots.

10 Yes, behold, [being] planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.

Even if that vine is transplanted, it certainly will not continue to grow [RHQ]. When the hot wind from the east blows against it, it will completely wither, there where it was planted! [RHQ]’”

11 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

Then Yahweh gave this message to me:

12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these [things mean]? tell [them], Behold, the king of Babylon hath come to Jerusalem, and hath taken its king, and its princes, and led them with him to Babylon;

“Ask these rebellious [Israeli] people, ‘Do you know what this parable/story means?’ Tell them that it signifies that the King of Babylon went to Jerusalem [with his army] and captured the King of Judah and his officials, and took them back to Babylon.

13 And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath from him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:

Then he took one of the king’s close relatives [and appointed him to be the king], and made an agreement with him, forcing him to solemnly promise [to remain loyal]. The King of Babylon also took to Babylon the other important citizens of Judah,

14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, [but] that by keeping his covenant it might stand.

in order that the kingdom of Judah would not be able to become powerful again. The King of Babylon intended that the kingdom [of Judah] would not continue to exist if the people did not obey that agreement [that he made with the King of Babylon].

15 But he rebelled against him in sending his embassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such [things]? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?

But the King of Judah rebelled against the King of Babylon by sending officials to Egypt to request from them horses and a large army [to fight against the army of Babylonia]. But the King of Judah will certainly not [RHQ] be sucessful. Rulers who [rebel like that and] and refuse to obey solemn agreements will never [RHQ] escape.

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 broke, [even] with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

[I], Yahweh the Lord, declare that [as surely] as I am alive, the King of Judah will die in Babylon, in the city where the King of Babylon appointed him to be the King [MTY] [of Judah]. He will die because he despised the solemn agreement and refused to do what he promised to do.

17 Neither shall Pharaoh with [his] mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:

The King of Egypt with all his very huge army [DOU] will not [be able to] help the King of Judah: [The soldiers from Babylonia] will build ramps up against the walls of Jerusalem and set up devices to batter the walls. They will [enter Jerusalem and] kill many of its people.

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

The King of Judah despised the solemn agreement by disregarding the treaty. Although he had solemnly promised to be under the control of the King of Babylon, [he sent officials to request help from Egypt]. Therefore he will not escape being punished [by the King of Babylon].

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; [As] I live, surely my oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even that will I recompense upon his own head.

Therefore this is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: 'Just as surely as I am alive, I will cause the King of Judah to be punished [IDM] for ignoring the solemn agreement that he made [with the King of Babylon] and then refusing to obey it.

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.

[It will be as though] I will spread a net to capture him, and he will be caught in it. He will [be captured and] taken to Babylon and punished because he rebelled against me.

21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered towards all winds: and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken [it].

Most [HYP] of his soldiers who try to escape will be killed by [their enemies’] swords, and those who survive will be scattered in all directions. Then you will know that I, Yahweh, [have the power to do what I say that I will do].'”

22 Thus saith the Lord God, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set [it]; I will crop off from the top of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant [it] upon a high mountain and eminent:

This is [also] what Yahweh the Lord says: “[It will be as though] I will take a shoot from the top of a very tall cedar [tree] and plant it [DOU] in another place. I will plant it on a very high [DOU] mountain.

23 In the mountain of the hight 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 shade of its branches shall they dwell.

[It will be as though] I will plant it on a mountain in Israel, and it will grow and become a beautiful cedar [tree]. Many [HYP] kinds of birds will make their nests in the tree, and they will have shade in its branches.

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 [it will be as though] all the trees in the field will know that I, Yahweh, get rid of tall trees and make little ones grow. I cause [big] green trees to wither, and I cause dry trees to become green. I, Yahweh have said this, and I will [certainly] do what I have said that I will do.”