| Chapter
17 |
| 1 | And
the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, |
| 2 | Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto
the house of Israel; |
| 3 |
And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged,
full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the
highest branch of the cedar: |
| 4
| He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land
of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants. |
|
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. |
| 6 | And it grew, and
became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and
the roots thereof were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth
branches, and shot forth sprigs. |
| 7
| There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers:
and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her
branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her
plantation. |
| 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. |
| 9 | Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall
it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit
thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even
without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof. |
| 10 | Yea, 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. |
| 11 | Moreover the word of the LORD came
unto me, saying, |
| 12 | Say
now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them,
Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king
thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon; |
| 13 | And hath taken of the king's
seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also
taken the mighty of the land: |
| 14
| That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but
that by keeping of his covenant it might stand. |
|
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? or shall he break the
covenant, and be delivered? |
| 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
brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. |
| 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: |
| 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. |
| 19 | Therefore
thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and
my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own
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 plead with him there for his trespass that he hath
trespassed against me. |
| 21 |
And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they
that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the
LORD have spoken it. |
| 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 his young twigs a
tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent: |
| 23 | In the mountain of the height 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 shadow
of the branches thereof shall they dwell. |
| 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. |
