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1The word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
2“Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel
3and say, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says:
A great eagle with great wings and long pinions,
and full of feathers of many colors,
came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar;
4 he broke off the topmost of the young twigs of it
and carried it to a land of trade;
he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also some of the seed of the land
and planted it in a fertile soil;
he placed it beside abundant water;
he set it like a willow tree.
6 It grew and became a spreading vine
low in height, whose branches turned toward him,
yet its roots were under it,
so it became a vine
and brought forth branches and sent out shoots.
7 There was also another great eagle
with great wings and many feathers;
and behold, the vine bent its roots toward him,
and sent out branches toward him
from its planting bed
so that he might water it.
in a good soil by abundant water
so that it would bring forth branches
and so that it would bear fruit;
so that it would be a splendid vine.’
9Say, ‘This is what the Lord Yahweh says:
Will it thrive?
Will he not pull up its roots
and cut off its fruit
so that it will wither;
so that all its fresh sprouting leaves will wither?
And it will not take a strong arm or many people
to pull it up by its roots.
10 Yes, behold, though it is planted, will it thrive?
Will it not utterly wither
when the east wind touches it?
It will wither away in the beds where it sprouted.’”
11Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
12“Say now to the rebellious house, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king and its officials, and brought them to him to Babylon;
13and he took one of the seed royal, and cut a covenant with him, putting him under an oath. And he took away the mighty of the land,
14so that the kingdom would be brought low so that it could not lift itself up, but that only by keeping its covenant it might stand.
15But he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors into Egypt, so that they might give him horses and many people. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break the covenant, and yet escape?
16As I live, says the Lord Yahweh, surely in the place where the king lives who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he will die.
17Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in the war, when ramps are thrown up and siege walls are built to cut off many lives.
18For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand in pledge, and yet has done all these things; he will not escape.
19Therefore this is what the Lord Yahweh says: As I live, surely it is my oath that he has despised and it is my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it on his own head.
20I will spread my net over him, and he will be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and will execute judgment on him there because of his trespass that he has trespassed against me.
21All his choice men among all his forces will fall by the sword, and those who remain alive will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken.
22This is what the Lord Yahweh says:
I will also take of the lofty top of the cedar, and will set it;
I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one,
and I will plant it
on a high and lofty mountain;
23 on the high mountain of Israel I will plant it,
and it will bring forth boughs and bear fruit,
And under it will live birds of every kind;
in the shade of its branches they will live.
24 And all the trees of the field will know
and make the dry tree to flourish.
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