1 AND the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
2 Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable unto the house of Israel;
3 And say, Thus saith the Lord God; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:
4 He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.
5 He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.
6 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.
7 There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and, behold, this vine did bend her roots toward him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.
8 It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.
9 Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up the roots thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by the roots thereof.
10 Yea, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.
11 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;
13 And hath taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:
14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
15 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? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?
16 As I live, saith the Lord God, 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.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.
20 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 plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall know that I the Lord have spoken it.
22 Thus saith the Lord God; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:
23 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 fowl of every wing; in the shadow of the branches thereof shall they dwell.
24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord 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 the Lord have spoken and have done it.

1And the word of the Lord came vnto mee, saying,

2Sonne of man, put foorth a riddle, and speake a parable vnto the house of Israel,

3And say, Thus saith the Lord God, A great eagle with great wings, long wing'd, full of feathers, which had diuers colours, camevnto Lebanon, and tooke the highest branch of the Cedar.

4Hee cropt off the top of his yong twigs, and caried it into a land of traffique; he set it in a city of merchants.

5Hee tooke also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitfull field, he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.

6And it grew, and became a spreading Uine of low stature, whose branches turned toward him, and the roots thereof were vnder him: so it became a Uine, and brought forth branches, and shot foorth sprigges.

7There was also an other great eagle, with great wings and many feathers, and behold, this Uine did bend her rootes towards him, and shot forth her branches toward him, that hee might water it by the furrowes of her plantation.

8It was planted in a good soile by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might beare fruit, that it might be a goodly Uine.

9Say thou, Thus saith the Lord God; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull vp the rootes thereof, and cut off the fruit thereof, that it wither? it shall wither in all the leaues of her spring, euen without great power, or many people to plucke it vp by the rootes thereof.

10Yea behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not vtterly wither, when the East wind toucheth it? it shal wither in the furrowes where it grew.

11 Moreouer the word of the Lord came vnto me, saying,

12Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things meane? tell them, behold, the king of Babylon is come to Ierusalem, and hath taken the King thereof, and the Princes thereof, and ledde them with him to Babylon,

13And hath taken of the kings seed, and made a couenant with him, and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land,

14That the kingdome might bee base, that it might not lift it selfe vp, but that by keeping of his Couenant it might stand.

15But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadours into Egypt, that they might giue him horses and much people: shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall hee breake the Couenant, and bee deliuered?

16As I liue, saith the Lord God, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose couenant he brake, euen with him, in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

17Neither shall Pharaoh with his mightie armie and great companie make for him in the warre by casting vp mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons.

18Seeing hee despised the oath by breaking the couenant (when loe, he had giuen his hand) and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.

19Therefore thus saith the Lord God, As I liue, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my Couenant that he hath broken, euen it will I recompense vpon his owne head.

20And I will spread my net vpon him, & he shalbe taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespasse, that he hath trespassed against me.

21And all his fugitiues, with all his bands, shall fall by the sword, and they that remaine shalbe scattered towards all windes: and ye shall know that I the Lord haue spoken it.

22 Thus saith the Lord God, I wil also take of the highest branch of the high Cedar, and will set it, I will croppe off from the top of his yong twigges a tender one, and will plant it vpon an high mountaine and eminent.

23In the mountaine of the height of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring foorth boughes, and beare fruite, and be a goodly Cedar, and vnder it shall dwell all foule of euery wing: in the shadow of the branches thereof shal they dwell.

24And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord haue brought downe the high tree, haue exalted the low tree, haue dried vp the greene tree, and haue made the drie tree to flourish: I the Lord haue spoken, and haue done it.

V == Deut 8:7*9 ; Isa 44:4

VI == Ezek 17:14

VII == Ezek 17:15

IX == 2nd Kings 25:7

X == Ezek 19:12 ; Hos 13:15

XII == 2nd Kings 24:11-16 ; Ezek 2:5 ; 12:9 ; 17:3

XIII == 2nd Kings 24:17 ; 2nd Chr 36:13

XIV == Ezek 17:6 ; 29:14

XV == Deut 17:16 ; 2nd Kings 24:20 ; 2nd Chr 36:13 ; Isa 31:1 , 3 ; 36:6 , 9 ; Ezek 17:9

XVI == Jer 32:5 ; 34:3 ; 52:11 ; Ezek 12:13

XVII == Jer 37:7 ; 52:4 ; Ezek 4:2

XVIII == 1st Chr 29:24 ; Lam 5:6

XX == Ezek 12:13 ; 20:36 ; 32:3

XXI == Ezek 12:14

XXII == Ps 2:6 ; Isa 11:1 ; 53:2 ; Jer 23:5 ; Zech 3:8

XXIII == Isa 2:2-3 ; Ezek 20:40 ; 31:6 ; Dan 4:12 ; Mic 4:1

XXIV == Jer 31:29 ; Lam 5:7 ; Ezek 22:14 ; 24:14 ; Luke 1:52

1 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:

2 Son of man, propose a riddle, and speak this proverb to the house of Israel:

3 Thus speaks the Lord GOD: The great eagle, with great wings, with long pinions, with thick plumage, many-hued, came to Lebanon. He took the crest of the cedar,

4 tearing off its topmost branch, And brought it to a land of tradesmen, set it in a city of merchants.

5 Then he took some seed of the land, and planted it in a seedbed; A shoot by plentiful waters, like a willow he placed it,

6 To sprout and grow up a vine, dense and low-lying, Its branches turned toward him, its roots lying under him. Thus it became a vine, produced branches and put forth shoots.

7 But there was another great eagle, great of wing, rich in plumage; To him this vine bent its roots, sent out its branches, That he might water it more freely than the bed where it was planted.

8 In a fertile field by plentiful waters it was planted, to grow branches, bear fruit, and become a majestic vine.

9 Say: Thus says the Lord GOD: Can it prosper? Will he not rather tear it out by the roots and strip off its fruit, so that all its green growth will wither when he pulls it up by the roots? (No need of a mighty arm or many people to do this.)

10 True, it is planted, but will it prosper? Will it not rather wither, when touched by the east wind, in the bed where it grew?

11 Thus the word of the LORD came to me:

12 Son of man, say now to the rebellious house: Do you not understand what this means? It is this: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took away its king and princes with him to Babylon.

13 Then he selected a man of the royal line with whom he made a covenant, binding him under oath, while removing the nobles of the land,

14 so that the kingdom would remain a modest one, without aspirations, and would keep his covenant and obey him.

15 But this man rebelled against him, sending envoys to Egypt to obtain horses and a great army. Can he prosper? Can he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still go free?

16 As I live, says the Lord GOD, in the home of the king who set him up to rule, whose oath he spurned, whose covenant with him he broke, there in Babylon I swear he shall die!

17 When ramps are cast up and siege towers are built for the destruction of many lives, he shall not be saved in the conflict by Pharaoh with a great army and numerous troops.

18 He spurned his oath, breaking his covenant. Though he gave his hand in pledge, he did all these things. He shall not escape!

19 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord GOD: As I live, my oath which he spurned, my covenant which he broke, I swear to bring down upon his head.

20 I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there over his breaking faith with me.

21 All the crack troops among his forces shall fall by the sword, and the survivors shall be scattered in every direction. Thus you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken.

22 Therefore say: Thus says the Lord GOD: I, too, will take from the crest of the cedar, from its topmost branches tear off a tender shoot, And plant it on a high and lofty mountain;

23 on the mountain heights of Israel I will plant it. It shall put forth branches and bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar. Birds of every kind shall dwell beneath it, every winged thing in the shade of its boughs.

24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, Bring low the high tree, lift high the lowly tree, Wither up the green tree, and make the withered tree bloom. As I, the LORD, have spoken, so will I do.

v 1,2. Ezekiel’s riddle is stated in 1-10 and explained in 11-21. Use together.

v 3,4;11,12. The great eagle cropping off the top of a cedar was Nebuchadnezzar coming to Jerusalem and taking Jehoiachin and princes to plant in Babylon.

v 5.6; 13,14. He didn’t destroy Jerusalem, but set up Zedekiah as a vassal king, and the country could still prosper if they would keep the oath and remain faithful.

v 7,8;15. The other Eagle was Egypt, which persuaded Zedekiah to revolt against Babylon and rely on them. Ezekiel prophesied this three years before it happened.

v 9,10; 16-21. The vine, Zedekiah broke the oath, he was also breaking oath with God, so he would be carried to Babylon to die,  and the people captive and scattered.

v 22-24. God compares Himself to an eagle who would take the highest branch, the line of David, restore the kingdom and  the land to fruitfulness into which all nations would come to know the Lord. This will be in the Millennium.