1The word of the Lord came to me:
2“Son of man, offer a riddle, and tell a parable to the house of Israel.
3Say to them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:“‘A great eagle with broad wings, long feathers,with full plumage which was multi-hued,came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar.
4He plucked off its topmost shoot;he brought it to a land of merchantsand planted it in a city of traders.
5He took one of the seedlings of the land,placed it in a cultivated plot;a shoot by abundant water,like a willow he planted it.
6It sprouted and became a vine,spreading low to the ground;its branches turning toward him, its roots were under itself.So it became a vine; it produced shoots and sent out branches.
7“‘There was another great eaglewith broad wings and thick plumage.Now this vine twisted its roots toward himand sent its branches toward himto be watered from the soil where it was planted.
8In a good field, by abundant waters, it was plantedto grow branches, bear fruit, and become a beautiful vine.
9“‘Say to them: This is what the sovereign Lord says:“‘Will it prosper?Will he not rip out its rootsand cause its fruit to rot and wither?All its foliage will wither.No strong arm or large armywill be needed to pull it out by its roots.
10Consider! It is planted, but will it prosper?Will it not wither completely when the east wind blows on it?Will it not wither in the soil where it sprouted?’”
11Then the word of the Lord came to me:
12“Say to the rebellious house of Israel: ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon.
13He took one from the royal family, made a treaty with him, and put him under oath. He then took the leaders of the land
14so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand.
15But this one from Israel’s royal family rebelled against the king of Babylon by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?
16“‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die!
17Pharaoh with his great army and mighty horde will not help him in battle, when siege ramps are erected and siege-walls are built to kill many people.
18He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note – he gave his promise and did all these things – he will not escape!
19“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant!
20I will throw my net over him and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and judge him there because of the unfaithfulness he committed against me.
21All the choice men among his troops will die by the sword and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken!
22“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:“‘I will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it.I will pluck from the top one of its tender twigs;I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.
23I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel,and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar.Every bird will live under it;Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.
24All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord.I make the high tree low; I raise up the low tree.I make the green tree wither, and I make the dry tree sprout.I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!’”