Ezekiel

The Eagle and the Cedar

The word of the Lord came to me:

“Son of man, tell a riddle and share a parable with the people of Israel. The Lord says this:

The great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers, and fine multicolored plumage came to Lebanon and took the top of a cedar.

It broke off the highest twigs and carried them to a land of trade, placing them in a merchant city.

Then, it took a seed from the land and planted it like a willow in rich soil near abundant water.

It grew and became a splendid vine, with spreading branches reaching toward the eagle, and roots growing deep. The vine continued to grow, spreading branches and producing foliage.

But there was another great eagle with powerful wings, and abundant plumage, and the vine twisted its roots and

its branches toward him, to be better watered than in the soil where it was planted. That vine, however, was able to grow branches, bear fruit, and develop into a magnificent vine because it had been planted in a good field near abundant resources water.”

The Lord says: “Will the vine prosper? Will the eagle not tear out its roots and cut away its fruit, so that the foliage withers and the vine dries up? It won’t take much effort or many people to pull up its roots.

It has been transplanted, but it will not prosper. When the east wind blows, the vine will completely wither away. In the soil where it grows, it will wither!”

The word of the Lord came to me:

“Say to these rebellious people: Do you not understandwhat all this means? The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took the king and princes away to Babylon.

Then he took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, binding him by an oath. He also took the leading citizens

to keep the kingdom weak and unable to stand up for itself, and to force the king to honor the treaty.

But the king rebelled against him and sent messengers to Egypt to ask for horses and a strong army. Will he succeed? Will he escape after doing this? Will he escape after breaking the treaty?

As surely as I live, declares the Lord, he will die in the land of the king who put him on the throne, the one whose oath he despised, and whose treaty he broke. There, in Babylon, he will die.

Pharaoh will not send a mighty army and crowds of men to aid him in a war when ramps are built and siege works are set up to kill many people.

This king has disrespected the oath and broken the treaty. Because he did all these things after giving his word, he will not escape!

That is why the Lord speaks thus: “As I live, I will hold him accountable for the oath he despised and the treaty he broke.

I will cast my net over him, and he will be caught in its mesh. I will bring him to Babylon, and there I will demand an account of his unfaithfulness to me.

As for the best of his troops, they will fall by the sword; the survivors will be scattered to the winds; and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”

Thus says the Lord: “At the top of the cedar, I will take one of its uppermost branches, a tender twig, and plant it.

On a lofty, massive mountain, on a high mountain of Israel, I will plant it. It will produce branches and bear fruit and become a magnificent cedar. Birds of all kinds will nest in it and find shelter in its branches.

And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord; I, who bring down the lofty tree and make the lowly tree tall. I will make the tree that is full of sap, wither, and the dry tree, bloom. I, the Lord, have spoken and this will I do.”