Ezekiel:17

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* The word of the LORD came to me : * "Son of man , propound a riddle , and speak an allegory to the house of Israel ; * say , Thus says the Lord GOD : A great eagle with great wings and long pinions , rich in plumage of many colors , came to Lebanon and took the top of the cedar ; * he broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land of trade , and set it in a city of merchants . * Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil ; he placed it beside abundant waters . He set it like a willow twig , * and it sprouted and became a low spreading vine , and its branches turned toward him , and its roots remained where it stood . So it became a vine , and brought forth branches and put forth foliage . * "But there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage ; and behold , this vine bent its roots toward him , and shot forth its branches toward him that he might water it . From the bed where it was planted * he transplanted it to good soil by abundant waters , that it might bring forth branches , and bear fruit , and become a noble vine . * Say , Thus says the Lord GOD : Will it thrive ? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its branches , so that all its fresh sprouting leaves wither ? It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it from its roots . * Behold , when it is transplanted , will it thrive ? Will it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes it--wither away on the bed where it grew ?" * Then the word of the LORD came to me : * "Say now to the rebellious house , Do you not know what these things mean ? Tell them , Behold , the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem , and took her king and her princes and brought them to him to Babylon . * And he took one of the seed royal and made a covenant with him , putting him under oath . (The chief men of the land he had taken away , * that the kingdom might be humble and not lift itself up , and that by keeping his covenant it might stand .) * But he rebelled against him by sending ambassadors to Egypt , that they might give him horses and a large army . Will he succeed ? Can a man escape who does such things ? Can he break the covenant and yet escape ? * As I live , says the Lord GOD , surely in the place where the king dwells who made him king , whose oath he despised , and whose covenant with him he broke , in Babylon he shall die . * Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help him in war , when mounds are cast up and siege walls built to cut off many lives . * Because he despised the oath and broke the covenant , because he gave his hand and yet did all these things , he shall not escape . * Therefore thus says the Lord GOD : As I live , surely my oath which he despised , and my covenant which he broke , I will requite upon his head . * I will spread my net over him , and he shall be taken in my snare , and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treason he has committed against me . * And all the pick of his troops shall fall by the sword , and the survivors shall be scattered to every wind ; and you shall know that I , the LORD , have spoken ." * Thus says the Lord GOD : "I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar , and will set it out ; I will break off from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one , and I myself will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain ; * on the mountain height of Israel will I plant it , that it may bring forth boughs and bear fruit , and become a noble cedar ; and under it will dwell all kinds of beasts ; in the shade of its branches birds of every sort will nest . * And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD bring low the high tree , and make high the low tree , dry up the green tree , and make the dry tree flourish . I the LORD have spoken , and I will do it ."

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