Ezekiel 17

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

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

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

Son of man, give out a dark saying, and make a comparison for the children of Israel,

3 and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings, long-pinioned, full of feathers, which was of divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar.

And say, This is what the Lord has said: A great eagle with great wings, full of long feathers of different colours, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:

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

Biting off the highest of its young branches, he took it to the land of Canaan, and put it in a town of traders.

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

And he took some of the seed of the land, planting it in fertile earth, placing it by great waters; he put it in like a willow-tree.

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

And its growth went on and it became a vine, low and widely stretching, whose branches were turned to him and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, putting out branches and young leaves.

7 And there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, from the beds of her plantation, this vine did bend her roots unto him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it.

And there was another eagle with great wings and thick feathers: and now this vine, pushing out its roots to him, sent out its branches in his direction from the bed where it was planted, so that he might give it water.

8 It was planted in a good field by many waters, that it might bring forth branches and bear fruit, that it might be a noble vine.

He had it planted in a good field by great waters so that it might put out branches and have fruit and be a strong vine.

9 Say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither? All its fresh sprouting leaves shall wither, even without a great arm and many people to pluck it up by its roots.

Say, This is what the Lord has said: Will it do well? will he not have its roots pulled up and its branches cut off, so that all its young leaves may become dry and it may be pulled up by its roots?

10 And 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 if it is planted will it do well? will it not become quite dry at the touch of the east wind, drying up in the bed where it was planted?

11 And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things are? Say, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king and its princes, and led them with him to Babylon.

Say now to this uncontrolled people, Are these things not clear to you? Say to them, See, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took its king and its rulers away with him to Babylon;

13 And he took of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and brought him under an oath, and he took away the mighty of the land;

And he took one of the sons of the king and made an agreement with him; and he put him under an oath, and took away the great men of the land:

14 that the kingdom might be abased, that it might not lift itself up, that it might keep his covenant in order to stand.

So that the kingdom might be made low with no power of lifting itself up, but might keep his agreement to be his servants.

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?

But he went against his authority in sending representatives to Egypt to get from them horses and a great army. Will he do well? will he be safe who does such things? if the agreement is broken will he be safe?

16 [As] I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily in the place of the king that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him, in the midst of Babylon, shall he die.

By my life, says the Lord, truly in the place of the king who made him king, whose oath he put on one side and let his agreement with him be broken, even in Babylon he will come to his death.

17 Neither shall Pharaoh with a mighty army and a great assemblage do anything for him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts to cut off many persons.

And Pharaoh with his strong army and great forces will be no help to him in the war, when they put up earthworks and make strong walls for the cutting off of lives:

18 He despised the oath, and broke the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, yet hath he done all these things: he shall not escape.

For he put his oath on one side in letting the agreement be broken; and though he had given his hand to it, he did all these things; he will not get away safe.

19 Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: [As] I live, verily, mine oath which he hath despised, and my covenant which he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his head.

And so the Lord has said, By my life, truly, for my oath which he put on one side, and my agreement which has been broken, I will send punishment 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 enter into judgment with him there for his unfaithfulness in which he hath been unfaithful against me.

My net will be stretched out over him, and he will be taken in my cords, and I will send him to Babylon, and there I will be his judge for the wrong which he has done against me.

21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind; and ye shall know that I Jehovah have spoken.

All his best fighting-men will be put to the sword, and the rest will be sent away to every wind: and you will be certain that I the Lord have said it.

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

This is what the Lord has said: Further, I will take the highest top of the cedar and put it in the earth; cutting off from the highest of his young branches a soft one, I will have it planted on a high and great mountain;

23 upon the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth branches, and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar; and under it shall dwell all birds of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.

It will be planted on the high mountain of Israel: it will put out branches and have fruit and be a fair cedar: under it all birds of every sort will make their living-place, resting in the shade of its branches.

24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I Jehovah have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and made the dry tree to flourish: I Jehovah have spoken, and will do [it].

And it will be clear to all the trees of the field that I the Lord have made low the high tree and made high the low tree, drying up the green tree and making the dry tree full of growth; I the Lord have said it and have done it.