Ezek 17
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And the word of YHWH came to me, saying,
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Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;
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and say, Thus says the Lord YHWH: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions,
full of feathers, which had divers colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the
cedar:
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he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof, and carried it to a land of
traffic; he set it in a city of merchants.
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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 willow-tree.
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And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward
him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth
branches, and shot forth sprigs.
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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.
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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 goodly vine.
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Say you, Thus says the Lord YHWH: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots
thereof, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither; that all its fresh springing
leaves may wither? and not by a strong arm or much people can it be raised from the
roots thereof.
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Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the
east wind touches it? it shall wither in the beds where it grew.
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Moreover the word of YHWH came to me, saying,
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Say now to the rebellious house, Know you not what these things mean? tell them, Behold,
the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took its king, and the princes
thereof, and brought them to him to Babylon:
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and he took of the seed royal, and made a covenant with him; he also brought him under
an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;
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that the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping
his covenant it might stand.
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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 does such
things? shall he break the covenant, and yet escape?
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As I live, says the Lord YHWH, surely in the place where the king dwells that made
him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the
midst of Babylon he shall die.
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Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company help him in the war,
when they cast up mounds and build forts, to cut off many persons.
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For he has despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his
hand, and yet has done all these things; he shall not escape.
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Therefore thus says the Lord YHWH: As I live, surely mine oath that he has despised,
and my covenant that he has broken, I will even bring it upon his own head.
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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 enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that
he has trespassed against me.
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And all his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain
shall be scattered toward every wind: and you shall know that I, YHWH, have spoken
it.
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Thus says the Lord YHWH: I will also take 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 and lofty mountain:
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in the mountain of the height of Israel will I plant it; and it shall bring forth
boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all birds
of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.
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And all the trees of the field shall know that I, YHWH, 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, YHWH, have spoken and have done it.