Ezekiel 17:2-18

2Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

3And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had many colours, came to Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:1

4He cropped off the top of its young twigs, and carried it into a land of trade; he set it in a city of merchants.

5He 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.2

6And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

7There 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.

8It 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 well favoured vine.3

9Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by its roots.

10Yea, 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.

11Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

12Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean ? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon hath come to Jerusalem, and hath taken its king, and its princes, and led them with him to Babylon;

13And hath taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath from him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:4

14That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.5

15But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things ? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?

16As 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 broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

17Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war, by casting up siege mounds, and building forts, to cut off many persons:

18Seeing 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.