The Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

¹Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, pose a riddle; speak a parable to the house of Israel

³and tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says:‘A great eagle with great wings and long pinions,full of feathers of many colors,came to Lebanonand took away the top of the cedar.

⁴He plucked off its topmost shoot,carried it to the land of merchants,and planted it in a city of traders.

⁵He took some of the seed of the landand planted it in fertile soil;he placed it by abundant watersand set it out like a willow.

⁶It sprouted and became a spreading vine,low in height, with branches turned toward him;yet its roots remained where it stood.So it became a vine and yielded branchesand sent out shoots.

⁷But there was another great eaglewith great wings and many feathers.And behold, this vine bent its roots toward him.It stretched out its branches to him from its planting bed,so that he might water it.

⁸It had been planted in good soilby abundant watersin order to yield branches and bear fruitand become a splendid vine.’

⁹So you are to tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says:‘Will it flourish?Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruitso that it shrivels?All its foliage will wither!It will not take a strong arm or many peopleto pull it up by its roots.

¹⁰Even if it is transplanted,will it flourish?Will it not completely wither when the east wind strikes?It will wither on the bed where it sprouted.’”

The Parable Explained

¹¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹²“Now say to this rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’Tell them, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, carried off its king and officials, and brought them back with him to Babylon.

¹³He took a member of the royal familyand made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,

¹⁴so that the kingdom would be brought low, unable to lift itself up, surviving only by keeping his covenant.

¹⁵But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’

¹⁶‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke.

¹⁷Pharaoh with his mighty army and vast horde will not help him in battle, when ramps are built and siege walls constructed to destroy many lives.

¹⁸He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Seeing that he gave his hand in pledge yet did all these things, he will not escape!’

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘As surely as I live, I will bring down upon his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.

²⁰I will spread My net over him and catch him in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment upon him there for the treason he committed against Me.

²¹All his choice troopswill fall by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have spoken.’

²²This is what the Lord GOD says:‘I will take a shoot from the lofty top of the cedar,and I will set it out.I will pluck a tender sprig from its topmost shoots,and I will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

²³I will plant it on the mountain heights of Israelso that it will bear branches;it will yield fruitand become a majestic cedar.Birds of every kind will nest under it,taking shelter in the shade of its branches.

²⁴Then all the trees of the field will knowthat I am the LORD.I bring the tall tree downand make the low tree tall.I dry up the green treeand make the withered tree flourish.I, the LORD, have spoken,and I have done it.’”

The Sins of Jerusalem

¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“As for you, son of man, will you judge her? Will you pass judgment on the city of bloodshed? Then confront her with all her abominations

³and tell her that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘O city who brings her own doom by shedding blood within her walls and making idols to defile herself,

⁴you are guilty of the blood you have shed, and you are defiled by the idols you have made. You have brought your days to a close and have come to the end of your years. Therefore I have made you a reproach to the nations and a mockery to all the lands.

⁵Those near and far will mock you, O infamous city, full of turmoil.

⁶See how every prince of Israel within you has used his power to shed blood.

⁷Father and mother are treated with contempt. Within your walls the foreign resident is exploited, the fatherless and the widow are oppressed.

⁸You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths.

⁹Among you are slanderous men bent on bloodshed; within you are those who eat on the mountain shrines and commit acts of indecency.

¹⁰In you they have uncovered the nakedness of their fathers; in you they violate women during their menstrual impurity.

¹¹One man commits an abomination with his neighbor’s wife; another wickedly defiles his daughter-in-law; and yet another violates his sister, his own father’s daughter.

¹²In you they take bribes to shed blood. You engage in usury, take excess interest, and extort your neighbors. But Me you have forgotten, declares the Lord GOD.

¹³Now look, I strike My hands together against your unjust gain and against the blood you have shed in your midst.

¹⁴Will your courage endure or your hands be strong in the day I deal with you? I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will act.

¹⁵I will disperse you among the nations and scatter you throughout the lands; I will purge your uncleanness.

¹⁶And when you have defiled yourselfin the eyes of the nations, then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

The Refining Furnace

¹⁷Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁸“Son of man, the house of Israel has become dross to Me. All of them are copper, tin, iron, and lead inside the furnace; they are but the dross of silver.

¹⁹Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because all of you have become dross, behold, I will gather you into Jerusalem.

²⁰Just as one gathers silver, copper, iron, lead, and tin into the furnace to melt with a fiery blast, so I will gather you in My anger and wrath, leave you there, and melt you.

²¹Yes, I will gather you together and blow on you with the fire of My wrath, and you will be melted within the city.

²²As silver is melted in a furnace, so you will be melted within the city. Then you will know that I, the LORD, have poured out My wrath upon you.’”

Israel’s Wicked Leaders

²³And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²⁴“Son of man, say to her, ‘In the day of indignation, you are a land that has not been cleansed, upon which no rain has fallen.’

²⁵The conspiracy of the princesin her midst is like a roaring lion tearing its prey. They devour the people, seize the treasures and precious things, and multiply the widows within her.

²⁶Her priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things. They make no distinction between the holy and the common, and they fail to distinguish between the clean and the unclean. They disregard My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.

²⁷Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey, shedding blood, and destroying lives for dishonest gain.

²⁸Her prophets whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken.

²⁹The people of the land have practiced extortion and committed robbery. They have oppressed the poor and needy and have exploited the foreign resident without justice.

³⁰I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.

³¹So I have poured out My indignation upon them and consumed them with the fire of My fury. I have brought their ways down upon their own heads, declares the Lord GOD.”

Signs of the Coming Captivity

¹Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²“Son of man, you are living in a rebellious house. They have eyes to see but do not see, and ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house.

³Therefore, son of man, pack your bags for exile. In broad daylight, set out from your place and go to another as they watch. Perhaps they will understand, though they are a rebellious house.

⁴Bring out your baggage for exile by day, as they watch. Then in the evening, as they watch, go out like those who go into exile.

⁵As they watch, dig through the wall and carry your belongings out through it.

⁶And as they watch, lift your bags to your shoulder and take them out at dusk; cover your face so that you cannot see the land. For I have made you a sign to the house of Israel.”

⁷So I did as I was commanded. I brought out my bags for exile by day, and in the evening I dug through the wall by hand. I took my belongings out at dusk, carrying them on my shoulder as they watched.

⁸And in the morning the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁹“Son of man, hasn’t the rebellious house of Israel asked you, ‘What are you doing?’

¹⁰Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘This burden concerns the prince in Jerusalem and all the house of Israel who are there.’

¹¹You are to say, ‘I am a sign to you.’ Just as it happened here,so will it be done to them; they will go into exile as captives.

¹²And at dusk the prince among them will lift his bags to his shoulder and go out. They will dig through the wall to bring him out. He will cover his face so he cannot see the land.

¹³But I will spread My net over him, and he will be caught in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon, the land of the Chaldeans; yet he will not see it, and there he will die.

¹⁴And I will scatter to every wind all the attendants around him and all his troops, and I will draw a sword to chase after them.

¹⁵And they will know that I am the LORD, when I disperse them among the nations and scatter them throughout the countries.

¹⁶But I will spare a few of them from sword and famine and plague, so that in the nations to which they go, they can recount all their abominations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

¹⁷Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹⁸“Son of man, eat your bread with trembling, and drink your water with quivering and anxiety.

¹⁹Then tell the people of the land that this is what the Lord GOD says about those living in Jerusalem and in the land of Israel: ‘They will eat their bread with anxiety and drink their water in dread, for their land will be stripped of everything in it because of the violence of all who dwell in it.

²⁰The inhabited cities will be laid waste, and the land will become desolate. Then you will know that I am the LORD.’”

The Presumptuous Proverb

²¹Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²²“Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel:‘The days go by,and every vision fails’?

²³Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will put an end to this proverb, and in Israel they will no longer recite it.’But say to them: ‘The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled.

²⁴For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations within the house of Israel,

²⁵because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass, declares the Lord GOD.’”

²⁶Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

²⁷“Son of man, take note that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now; he prophesies about the distant future.’

²⁸Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘None of My words will be delayed any longer. The message I speak will be fulfilled, declares the Lord GOD.’”

Hear Us, O Shepherd of Israel

¹Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,who leads Joseph like a flock;You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,shine forth

²before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.Rally Your mighty powerand come to save us.

³Restore us, O God,and cause Your face to shine upon us,that we may be saved.

⁴O LORD God of Hosts,how long will Your anger smolderagainst the prayers of Your people?

⁵You fed them with the bread of tearsand made them drink the full measure of their tears.

⁶You make us contend with our neighbors;our enemies mock us.

⁷Restore us, O God of Hosts,and cause Your face to shine upon us,that we may be saved.

⁸You uprooted a vine from Egypt;You drove out the nations and transplanted it.

⁹You cleared the ground for it,and it took root and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered by its shade,and the mighty cedars with its branches.

¹¹It sent out its branches to the Sea,and its shoots toward the River.

¹²Why have You broken down its walls,so that all who pass by pick its fruit?

¹³The boar from the forest ravages it,and the creatures of the field feed upon it.

¹⁴Return, O God of Hosts, we pray!Look down from heaven and see!Attend to this vine—

¹⁵the root Your right hand has planted,the son You have raised up for Yourself.

¹⁶Your vine has been cut down and burned;they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

¹⁷Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand,on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.

¹⁸Then we will not turn away from You;revive us, and we will call on Your name.

¹⁹Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts;cause Your face to shine upon us,that we may be saved.