1 The word of the LORD came to me:
2 "Son of man, put a riddle and tell a parable to the house of Israel.
3 Say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: The great eagle, with great wings and long feathers, thick with plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took hold of the top of the cedar.
4 He snapped off the highest of its shoots, brought it to a land of traders, and put it in a city of merchants.
5 Then he took some of the seed of the land and put it in a field for sowing; he took it to a place of abundant water and set it there like a willow.
6 It sprouted and grew into a vine, spreading but not tall, with its branches turning toward him and its roots staying beneath him. So it became a vine; it put out branches and sent out boughs.
7 But there was another great eagle, with great wings and thick plumage; and this vine stretched its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was planted, for him to water it.
8 It had been planted in a good field beside abundant water, to put out branches and bear fruit and be a noble vine.'
9 Say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: Will it thrive? Will he not tear out its roots and strip off its fruit so that it withers, all its freshly sprouted leaves withering? No great strength or many people will be needed to pull it up by its roots.
10 It has been planted, yes, but will it thrive? When the east wind strikes it, will it not wither away completely, wither on the beds where it sprouted?'"
11 The word of the LORD came to me:
12 "Say to the house of rebellion, 'Do you not know what these things mean?' Say, 'The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and its leaders, and brought them back with him to Babylon.
13 He took one of the royal line, made a covenant with him and bound him by an oath; and he took away the leading men of the land,
14 so that the kingdom would be kept low and not raise itself up, but would survive by keeping his covenant.
15 But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he thrive? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still escape?
16 As I live, declares the Lord GOD, in the place of the king who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, there with him in Babylon he will die.
17 Pharaoh with his great army and huge horde will do nothing for him in the war when ramps are heaped up and siege works built to cut off many lives.
18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant; though he had given his hand on it, he did all these things. He will not escape.'
19 "So thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke, I will bring down on his head.
20 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 the unfaithfulness he committed against me.
21 All the fugitives among all his troops will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.
22 "Thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and set it out; from the highest of its shoots I will snap off a tender one, and I myself will plant it on a mountain high and towering.
23 On Israel's high mountain I will plant it, and it will put out boughs and bear fruit and be a noble cedar. Birds of every kind will live under it; every winged thing will nest in the shade of its branches.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I am the LORD: I bring down the tall tree and raise up the low tree, I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree bud. I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do it."