And the word of Jehovah 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 Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:
he cropped off the topmost of the young twigs thereof, and carried it unto {Or, the land of Canaan}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 {Hebrew: a field of seed.}a fruitful soil; he placed it beside {Or, great}many waters; he set it as a willow-tree.
And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were 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 {Hebrew: field.}soil by {Or, great}many waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
Say thou, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, 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.
Yea, 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.
Moreover the word of Jehovah 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; he also brought him under an oath, and took away the mighty of the land;
that the kingdom might be {Hebrew: low.}base, 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 Jehovah, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
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.
For he hath despised the oath by breaking the covenant; and behold, he had given his hand, and yet hath done all these things; he shall not escape.
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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 enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
And all his fugitives 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, Jehovah, have spoken it.
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: 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:
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 the branches thereof shall they dwell.
And all the trees of the field shall know that I, Jehovah, 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, Jehovah, have spoken and have done it.
Querverweise zu Hesekiel 17,12 Hes 17,12
And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house), yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.
And the people said unto me, Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us, that thou doest so?
and say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: A great eagle with great wings and long pinions, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came unto Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar:
And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
But thou, son of man, hear what I say unto thee; be not thou rebellious like that rebellious house: open thy mouth, and eat that which I give thee.
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?
In the fifth day of the month, which was the fifth year of king Jehoiachin's captivity,
And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison;
and he spake kindly to him, and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon,
and changed his prison garments. And Jehoiachin did eat bread before him continually all the days of his life:
and for his allowance, there was a continual allowance given him by the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the day of his death, all the days of his life.
As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they are a rebellious house.
When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Jehovah our God hath commanded you?
At that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and the city was besieged.
And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came unto the city, while his servants were besieging it;
and Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his {Or, eunuchs}officers: and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign.
And he carried out thence all the treasures of the house of Jehovah, and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold, which Solomon king of Israel had made in the temple of Jehovah, as Jehovah had said.
And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, even ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths; none remained, save the poorest sort of the people of the land.
And he carried away Jehoiachin to Babylon; and the king's mother, and the king's wives, and his {Or, eunuchs}officers, and the {Or, mighty}chief men of the land, carried he into captivity from Jerusalem to Babylon.
And all the men of might, even seven thousand, and the craftsmen and the smiths a thousand, all of them strong and apt for war, even them the king of Babylon brought captive to Babylon.
Son of man, hath not the house of Israel, the rebellious house, said unto thee, What doest thou?
that this may be a sign among you, that, when your children ask in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
Jehoiachin was {In 2 Kings 24:8, eighteen.}eight years old when he began to reign; and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem: and he did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah.
Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for Jehovah hath spoken: I have {Or, made great and exalted See Ezekiel 31:4.}nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me.
And he spake unto the children of Israel, saying, When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean these stones?
And at the return of the year king Nebuchadnezzar sent, and brought him to Babylon, with the goodly vessels of the house of Jehovah, and made Zedekiah his brother king over Judah and Jerusalem.
Have ye understood all these things? They say unto him, Yea.
As I live, saith Jehovah, though {In chapter 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 3:16, Jeconiah. In 2 Kings 24:6, 8, Jehoiachin.}Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence;
and I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them of whom thou art afraid, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans.
And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
But to the land whereunto {Hebrew: they lift up their soul.}their soul longeth to return, thither shall they not return.
Is this man Coniah a despised broken {Or, pot}vessel? is he a vessel wherein none delighteth? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into the land which they know not?
And he said, Are ye also even yet without understanding?
Perceive ye not, that whatsoever goeth into the mouth passeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught?
How is it that ye do not perceive that I spake not to you concerning {Greek: loaves.}bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
And he saith unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how shall ye know all the parables?
But they understood not this saying, and it was concealed from them, that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying.
And Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?