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 17,19 Hes 17,19
And it shall be unto them as a false divination in their sight, who have sworn oaths unto them; but he bringeth iniquity to remembrance, that they may be taken.
Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because ye have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins do appear; because that ye are come to remembrance, ye shall be taken with the hand.
And thou, O deadly wounded wicked one, the prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the time of the {Or, punishment}iniquity of the end,
thus saith the Lord Jehovah: {Or, I will remove &c.}Remove the mitre, and take off the crown; this shall be {Hebrew: not this.}no more the same; exalt that which is low, and abase that which is high.
{Hebrew: An overthrow, overthrow, overthrow, will I make it.}I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: this also shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him.
Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God {Or, for vanity (or, falsehood)}in vain: for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name {Or, for vanity (or, falsehood)}in vain.
And though they say, As Jehovah liveth; surely they swear falsely.
Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods that ye have not known,
and come and stand before me in this house, {Hebrew: whereupon my name is called.}which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered; that ye may do all these abominations?
Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it, saith Jehovah.
But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I caused my name to dwell at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.
And now, because ye have done all these works, saith Jehovah, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I called you, but ye answered not:
therefore will I do unto the house which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.
And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.