1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2. Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
3. And say: Thus saith the Lord God: A large eagle with great wings, long-limbed, full of feathers, and of variety, came to Libanus, and took away the marrow of the cedar.
4. He cropped off the top of the twigs thereof: and carried it away into the land of Chanaan, and he set it in a city of merchants.
5. And he took of the seed of the land, and put it in the ground for seed, that it might take a firm root over many waters: he planted it on the surface of the earth.