Ezekiel:17

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* And the word of the LORD came unto me , saying : * 'Son of man , put forth a riddle , and speak a parable unto the house of Israel , * and say : Thus saith the Lord GOD : A great eagle with great wings and long pinions , full of feathers , which had divers colours , came unto Lebanon , and took the top of the cedar ; * He cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof , and carried it into a land of traffic ; he set it in a city of merchants . * He took also of the seed of the land , and planted it in a fruitful soil ; he placed it beside many waters , he set it as a slip . * And it grew , and became a spreading vine of low stature , whose tendrils might turn toward him , and the roots thereof be under him ; so it became a vine , and brought forth branches , and shot forth sprigs . * There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers ; and , behold , this vine did bend its roots toward him , and shot forth its branches toward him , from the beds of its plantation , that he might water it . * It was planted in a good soil by many waters , that it might bring forth branches , and that it might bear fruit , that it might be a stately vine . * Say thou : Thus saith the Lord GOD : Shall it prosper ? shall he not pull up the roots thereof , and cut off the fruit thereof , that it wither , yea , wither in all its sprouting leaves ? neither shall great power or much people be at hand when it is plucked up by the roots thereof . * Yea , behold , being planted , shall it prosper ? Shall it not utterly wither , when the east wind toucheth it ? In the beds where it grew it shall wither .' * Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me , saying : * 'Say now to the rebellious house : Know ye not what these things mean ? tell them : Behold , the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem , and took the king thereof , and the princes thereof , and brought them to him to Babylon ; * and he took of the seed royal , and made a covenant with him , and brought him under an oath , and the mighty of the land he took away ; * that his might be a lowly kingdom , that it might not lift itself up , but that by keeping his covenant it might stand . * But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt , that they might give him horses and much people . Shall he prosper ? shall he escape that doeth such things ? shall he break the covenant , and yet escape ? * As 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 . * Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company succour him in the war , when they cast up mounds and build forts , to cut off many souls ; * seeing he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant , when , lo , he had given his hand , and hath done all these things , he shall not escape . * Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD : As I live , surely Mine oath that he hath despised , and My covenant that he hath broken , I will even bring it upon his own head . * And I will spread My net upon him , and he shall be taken in My snare , and I will bring him to Babylon , and will plead with him there for his treachery that he hath committed against Me . * And all his mighty men in all his bands shall fall by the sword , and they that remain shall be scattered toward every wind ; and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it . * Thus saith the Lord GOD : Moreover I will take , even I , of the lofty top of the cedar , and will set it ; I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one , and I will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent ; * in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it ; and it shall bring forth boughs , and bear fruit , and be a stately cedar ; and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing , in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell . * And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree , have exalted the low tree , have dried up the green tree , and have made the dry tree to flourish ; I the LORD have spoken and have done it .'

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