1. And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
2. Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel,
3. and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings, long-pinioned, full of feathers, which was of divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar.
4. He cropped off the top of its young shoots, and carried it into a merchants' land; he set it in a city of traders.
5. And he took of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, he set it as a willow tree.
6. And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, so that its branches should turn toward him, and the roots thereof be under him; and it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.
7. And there was another great eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold, from the beds of her plantation, this vine did bend her roots unto him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it.
8. It was planted in a good field by many waters, that it might bring forth branches and bear fruit, that it might be a noble vine.
9. Say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither? All its fresh sprouting leaves shall wither, even without a great arm and many people to pluck it up by its roots.
10. And behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither when the east wind toucheth it? It shall wither in the beds where it grew.
11. And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying,
12. Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things are? Say, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king and its princes, and led them with him to Babylon.
13. And he took of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and brought him under an oath, and he took away the mighty of the land;
14. that the kingdom might be abased, that it might not lift itself up, that it might keep his covenant in order to stand.
15. 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?
16. As I live, saith the Lord Jehovah, verily in the place of the king that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him, in the midst of Babylon, shall he die.
17. Neither shall Pharaoh with a mighty army and a great assemblage do anything for him in the war, when they cast up mounds and build forts to cut off many persons.