Ezekiel

CHAPTER 17

The Eagles and the Vine.

The great eagle, with wide wingspan

and long feathers, with thick plumage,

many-hued, came to Lebanon.

He plucked the crest of the cedar,^a

And brought it to a land of merchants,

set it in a city of traders.

and planted it in fertile soil;

A shoot beside plentiful waters,

like a willow he planted it,^b

dense and low-lying,

With its branches turned toward him,

its roots beneath it.

Thus it became a vine, produced branches,

and put forth shoots.

with wide wingspan, rich in plumage,

And see! This vine bent its roots to him,

sent out branches for him to water.

From the bed where it was planted,^c

By abundant waters, to produce branches,

to bear fruit, to become a majestic vine.

Will he not tear up its roots

and strip its fruit?

Then all its green leaves will wither—

neither strong arm nor mighty nation

is needed to uproot it.

Will it not wither up

When the east wind strikes it,

wither in the very bed where it sprouted?^d

Do you not understand this? Tell them!

The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem

and took away its king and officials

and brought them to him in Babylon.^e

he then took one of the royal line

And made a covenant with him,

binding him under oath,^f

without high aspirations,

to keep his covenant and so survive.

by sending envoys to Egypt

To obtain horses and a mighty army.

Can he thrive?

Can he escape if he does this?

Can he break a covenant and go free?^g

in the house of the king who set him up to rule,

Whose oath he ignored and whose covenant he broke,

there in Babylon I swear he shall die!^h

with a great force and mighty horde,

When ramps are thrown up and siege works built

for the cutting down of many lives.

even though he gave his hand, he did all these things—

he shall not escape!ⁱ

As I live, my oath which he spurned,

And my covenant which he broke,

I will bring down on his head.

and he will be caught in my snare.

I will bring him to Babylon

to judge him there

because he broke faith with me.^j

will fall by the sword,

And whoever might survive

will be scattered to the winds.^k

Thus you will know that I the LORD have spoken.

I, too, will pluck from the crest of the cedar

the highest branch.

From the top a tender shoot

I will break off and transplant^*

on a high, lofty mountain.

I will plant it.

It shall put forth branches and bear fruit,

and become a majestic cedar.

Every small bird will nest under it,

all kinds of winged birds will dwell

in the shade of its branches.^l

that I am the LORD.

I bring low the high tree,

lift high the lowly tree,

Wither up the green tree,

and make the dry tree bloom.^m

As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do!

* [17:11–21] These verses explain the allegory in vv. 3–10. In 597 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar removed Jehoiachin from the throne and took him into exile; in his place he set Zedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, on the throne and received from him the oath of loyalty. But Zedekiah was persuaded to rebel by Pharaoh Hophra of Egypt and thus deserved punishment; cf. 2 Kgs 24:10–25:7.

* [17:22–23] The Lord will undo the actions of the Babylonian king by rebuilding the Davidic dynasty so the nations realize that only Israel’s God can restore a people’s destiny.

a. [17:3] Dt 28:49; Jer 49:22; Dn 7:4.

b. [17:5] cf. 2 Kgs 24:17.

c. [17:7] cf. Ez 31:4–5; Jer 37:5; 44:30.

d. [17:10] cf. Ez 19:12.

e. [17:12] 2 Kgs 24:15.

f. [17:13] 2 Chr 36:13.

g. [17:15] Jer 52:3.

h. [17:16] 2 Kgs 24:17; 25:7; Jer 52:11.

i. [17:18] cf. 2 Kgs 10:15.

j. [17:20] cf. Ez 12:13; 32:3.

k. [17:21] Lv 26:33; 2 Kgs 25:5.

l. [17:23] Dn 4:12; Hos 14:5–7.

m. [17:24] Dn 5:21.