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¹ And the Word of Jehovah was to me, saying,² Son of man, put forth a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel.³ And say, So says the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle came to Lebanon, one with great wings, long of pinion, full of feathers, having different colors to him. And he took the top of the cedar.⁴ He plucked off the first of its young twigs and brought it into a land of traders. He set it in a city of merchants.⁵ He also took of the seed of the land and planted it in a field of seed. He took it by great waters; he set it as a willow.⁶ And it sprouted and became a spreading low vine, and it turned its branches to face toward him, and its roots were under him. So it became a vine and made branches, and sent out boughs.⁷ Also there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers. And, behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and sent out its branches to him, to water it, away from the beds of its planting.⁸ It was planted in a good field by great waters to make branches and to bear fruit, to be a splendid vine.⁹ Say, So says the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit and wither it? All the leaves of its sprouting shall wither, and not with great arm, nor by many people shall any raise it by itsroots.¹⁰ And behold, being planted, shall it prosper? Shall it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it? It shall wither in the beds where it sprouted.¹¹ And the Word of Jehovah was to me, saying,¹² Say now to the rebellious house, Do you not know what these mean ? But speak, Behold, the king of Babylon has come to Jerusalem, and has taken its king and its rulers, and has brought them to himself at Babylon.¹³ And he took of the royal seed, and he has cut with him a covenant and has made him enter into an oath. And he took the mighty of the land,¹⁴ that the kingdom might be low, that it might not lift itself up to keep its covenant, that it might stand.¹⁵ But he rebelled against him in sending his messengers to Egypt, to give horses and many people to him. Shall he prosper? Shall he who does these things escape? Or shall he break the covenant and be delivered?¹⁶ As I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, Surely, in the place of the king who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, there he shall die with him in the midst of Babylon.¹⁷ And Pharaoh shall not work for him with great army or great company in the war by pouring out mounds and building siege walls to cut off many souls.¹⁸ And he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant. And, behold, he had given his hand, and he has done all these things, he shall not escape.¹⁹ So the Lord Jehovah says this: As I live, surely My oath that he has despised, and My covenant that he has broken, I will even give it on his head.²⁰ And I will spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. And I will bring him to Babylon. And I will judge him there with his treason which he has betrayed against Me.²¹ And all his fugitives shall fall by the sword, with all his bands. And those who remain shall be scattered to every wind. And you shall know that I, Jehovah, have spoken.

²² So says the Lord Jehovah: I will also take, even I, of the top of the highest cedar and I will set it ; I will crop off a tender one from the first of its young twigs, and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.²³ I will plant it in a high mountain of Israel. And it will bear boughs and produce fruit and will become a majestic cedar. And every bird of every wing shall dwell under it; they shall dwell in the shadow of its branches.²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, have brought down the high tree. and have exalted the low tree, and have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree flourish. I, Jehovah, have spoken and acted.