Fluent Translation · Read & Reflect
Ezekiel 17
Two eagles and a vine
The word of the LORD came to me:
“Son of man, pose a riddle and tell a parable to the house of Israel.
Say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says:
A great eagle, great of wing,
with long feathers and thick, colorful plumage,
came to Lebanon
and took the top of a cedar.
He plucked the highest of its young shoots,
carried it to a land of merchants,
and set it in a city of traders.
He took seed from the land
and set it in a field for sowing.
He placed it beside abundant water,
setting it like a willow.
It sprouted and became a low, spreading vine,
its branches turned toward him,
its roots beneath him.
It became a vine, put out branches,
and sent out shoots.
“‘But there was another great eagle,
with great wings and plentiful plumage.
This vine bent its roots toward him
and sent its branches toward him
from the beds where it was planted,
so that he might water it.
It had been planted in good soil
beside abundant water,
to put out branches and bear fruit,
to become a splendid vine.’
“Say, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says:
Will it thrive?
Will he not tear up its roots, strip its fruit,
and make all its fresh leaves wither?
No great arm or mighty host will be needed
to uproot it.
Though it is planted, will it thrive?
When the east wind strikes it, will it not wither completely?
In the very beds where it grew, it will wither.’”
The broken oath
The word of the LORD came to me: “Say to the rebellious household, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and its officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon. He took someone of royal descent, made a covenant with him, and put him under oath. He also took away the leading men of the land, so that the kingdom would remain lowly and not rise up, and would stand by keeping his covenant. But the king rebelled against him, sending envoys to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he thrive? Will someone who does this escape? Can he break a covenant and escape? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke. Pharaoh with his great army and mighty host will do nothing for him in the war, when siege ramps are piled up and siegeworks built to cut off many lives. He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. He gave his hand in pledge, yet did all these things. He will not escape. “Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: As I live, I will bring down on his head my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke. I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for his unfaithfulness to me. All the fugitives from all his troops will fall by the sword, and those who remain will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.
A cedar on the mountain
“This is what the Lord GOD says:
I myself will take a shoot from the top of the lofty cedar
and set it out.
From the highest of its young shoots I will pluck a tender one
and plant it on a high and towering mountain.
On Israel’s high mountain I will plant it.
It will put out branches, bear fruit,
and become a splendid cedar.
Every kind of bird, every winged creature, will dwell beneath it;
they will dwell in the shade of its branches.
All the trees of the field will know that I am the LORD.
I bring the high tree low and lift the low tree high;
I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.
I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it.”