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word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, pose a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel. 3 Say to them, ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“A great eagle with large wings, long pinions,
and full of feathers of brilliant colours,
came to Lebanon and took hold of the top of a cedar.
4He plucked off its topmost shoot,
and carried it away to a land of merchants,
and set it in a city of traders.
5 Then he took some of the seed of the land
and planted it in a fertile field.
He placed it by abundant waters,
and set it like a willow tree.
6 It sprouted and became a spreading vine,
low in height with its branches turned toward him,
but its roots remained under it.
So it became a vine,
produced branches,
and put forth foliage.
7 “But there was another great eagle,
with large wings and thick plumage.
And this vine now bent its roots toward him,
and stretched out its branches to him
from where it was planted,
so that he might water it.
8 It had been planted
in good soil by abundant waters,
so that it might bring forth branches,
bear fruit, and become a splendid vine” ’.
9 “You are to say: ‘This is what the Lord God says:
“Will it flourish?
Will he not tear out its roots,
strip off its fruit,
and leave it to wither?
All its new leaves will wither.
No strong arm or many people
will be needed to pull it up by its roots.
10 Even though it is planted, will it thrive?
Will it not completely wither
when the east wind strikes it?
It will wither away in the plot where it grew” ’.”
11 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Now say to the rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and carried off its king and its officials and brought them back with him to Babylon. 13 He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with them, putting him under oath. Then he carried off the leading men of the land, 14 so the kingdom might be brought low and not exalt itself, so that by keeping his covenant it might survive. 15 But the king rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, so that they might give him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break the covenant and yet escape?
16 ‘As I live’, says the Lord God, ‘in the homeland of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke—right in Babylon itself, he shall die. 17 Pharaoh with his mighty army and vast horde will not help him in the war, when ramps are built and siege works are raised up to destroy many lives. 18 Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when he had given his hand in pledge and yet still did all these things, he shall not escape’.”
19 Therefore this is what the Lord God says: “As I live, I will bring down on his own head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke. 20 I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there for his treachery that he has committed against Me. 21 All the fugitives among his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”
22 This is what the Lord God says:
“I Myself will take and plant
a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar.
I will break off a tender sprig
from its topmost shoots,
and I will plant it
on a high and lofty mountain.
23 On the mountain heights of Israel
I will plant it;
and it will produce branches and bear fruit,
and become a majestic cedar.
Birds of every kind will nest in it,
and in the shade of its branches they will take shelter.
24 All the trees of the field will know
that I am the Lord.
I bring down the high tree,
and exalt the low tree.
I dry up the green tree
and make the dry tree flourish.
I, the Lord, have spoken;
I will do it.