Ezekiel 17-18

Complete Jewish Bible

17 The word of Adonai came to me: ² “Human being, propound this riddle, tell the house of Isra’el this allegory, ³ say that Adonai Elohim says this: ‘A big eagle having great wings and long pinions full of varicolored feathers came to the L’vanon and took over the top of the cedar. ⁴ He cropped off the topmost of its young twigs, carried them to a land of traders and set them down in a city of merchants. ⁵ He also took some of the seed in the land and planted it in fertile soil, placing it where there was abundant water, as one would a willow. ⁶ It grew to become a fruitful vine sprawling over the ground; its branches turned toward him, and its roots were under him — thus it became a vine, sprouting branches and putting forth shoots.

⁷ “‘There was another big eagle with great wings and many feathers; and the vine bent its roots toward him and put forth its branches toward him, so that he might water it more than in the bed where it was planted. ⁸ It had been planted in good soil, near plenty of water, so that it would produce branches, bear fruit and become a noble vine.’

⁹ “Say that Adonai Elohim asks: ‘Will it succeed? Won’t he pull it up by the roots and cut off its fruit; so that it dries up; and all its sprouting leaves wither? There will be no great power and few people there when it is plucked up by the roots. ¹⁰ Will it thrive just because it was planted? Won’t it wither altogether when the east wind strikes it? Yes, it will wither right there in the beds where it was growing.’”

¹¹ The word of Adonai came to me: ¹² “Say to the rebellious house: ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ Tell them: ‘Here, the king of Bavel came to Yerushalayim, took its king and princes and brought them to himself in Bavel. ¹³ Then he took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He removed the powerful leaders of the land, ¹⁴ so that this kingdom of his would stay humble and not develop aspirations of its own; rather, it would keep his covenant and live accordingly. ¹⁵ But this man rebelled and sent representatives to Egypt, in order to obtain horses and a sizeable army. Can he succeed? Can someone who does such things escape punishment? Can he break the covenant and still escape punishment?

¹⁶ “‘As I live,’ says Adonai Elohim, ‘in the place where the king who gave him his throne lives, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, there with him in Bavel I swear that he will die. ¹⁷ Pharaoh with his mighty army and numerous troops will give him no help in the war, when they raise siege-works and build fortified towers to destroy many people; ¹⁸ because he despised the oath by breaking the covenant to which he had sworn allegiance; having done all these things, he will not escape unpunished.’ ¹⁹ Therefore Adonai Elohim says: ‘As I live, I swear that it is my oath he has despised and my covenant he has broken, and I will bring this on his own head. ²⁰ I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Bavel and bring him to judgment there for breaking faith with me. ²¹ The elite troops among his forces will die by the sword, and those who survive will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, Adonai, said it.’

²² “Adonai Elohim says, ‘From the top of this tall cedar, from its highest branch, I will take a shoot and plant it myself on a high and prominent mountain. ²³ I will plant it on the highest mountain in Isra’el, where it will put out branches, bear fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it will live all kinds of birds; winged creatures of every description will live there in the shadow of its branches. ²⁴ Then all the trees of the field will know that I, Adonai, bring down the tall tree and raise up the low tree, wither the green tree and make the withered tree bear fruit. I, Adonai, have spoken; and I will do it.’”

18 The word of Adonai came to me: ² “What does it mean, that you keep quoting this proverb in the land of Isra’el —

³ “As I live,” says Adonai Elohim, “I swear that you will never again quote this proverb in Isra’el. ⁴ Look, all lives belong to me — both the parent’s life and the child’s life are equally mine — so it is the person who sins, himself, who must die.

⁵ “Consider someone who is righteous, who does what is lawful and right. ⁶ He doesn’t eat on the mountains or raise his eyes toward the idols of the house of Isra’el; he doesn’t defile his neighbor’s wife or touch a woman during her time of menstrual impurity; ⁷ he doesn’t wrong anyone; he returns any pledged property a debtor has given as collateral for a loan; he takes nothing by robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and clothing to those who need it; ⁸ he neither demands nor accepts interest on a loan; he refrains from what is evil; and he judges honestly between one person and another. ⁹ In short, he lives according to my laws and observes my rulings, so as to act faithfully. Such a person is righteous, and he will certainly live,” says Adonai Elohim.

¹⁰ “Now suppose he is the father of a son who is a robber, a murderer, or who does any of these things to a brother — ¹¹ whereas the father himself does none of them. He eats on the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, ¹² wrongs the poor and needy, takes by robbery, doesn’t restore pledged property, raises his eyes toward the idols, engages in disgusting practices, ¹³ demands and accepts interest. Should he live? He will not live, because he has engaged in all these disgusting practices — he must be put to death; his blood is on him.

¹⁴ “But now suppose he has a son who sees all the sins his father committed, thinks about them, and behaves differently. ¹⁵ He doesn’t eat on the mountains, raise his eyes to the idols of the house of Isra’el, defile his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶ wrong others, keep pledged property or take by robbery, but gives his food to the hungry and clothing to those in need of it; ¹⁷ he refrains from oppressing the poor; and he neither demands nor accepts interest. He obeys my rulings and lives according to my laws. So he will not die for his father’s sins but will certainly live. ¹⁸ Yet his father, because he oppressed so cruelly, committed robbery against his brother and never did anything good among his people — he will die for his sins.

¹⁹ “You ask, ‘Why doesn’t the son bear his father’s guilt?’ When the son has done what is lawful and right, has kept all my laws and obeyed them, he will certainly live. ²⁰ The person who sins is the one that will die — a son is not to bear his father’s guilt with him, nor is the father to bear his son’s guilt with him; but the righteousness of the righteous will be his own, and the wickedness of the wicked will be his own.

²¹ “However, if the wicked person repents of all the sins he committed, keeps my laws and does what is lawful and right; then he will certainly live, he will not die. ²² None of the transgressions he has committed will be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done, he will live. ²³ Do I take any pleasure at all in having the wicked person die?” asks Adonai Elohim. “Wouldn’t I prefer that he turn from his ways and live?

²⁴ “On the other hand, when the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness by acting in accordance with all the disgusting practices that the wicked person does, will he live? None of the righteous deeds he has done will be remembered; for the trespasses and sins he has committed, he will die.

²⁵ “So now you say, ‘Adonai’s way isn’t fair.’ Listen, house of Isra’el! Is it my way that is unfair? or your ways that are unfair? ²⁶ When the righteous person turns away from his righteousness and commits wickedness, he will die for it — for the wickedness he commits he will die. ²⁷ And when the wicked person turns away from all the wickedness he has committed and does what is lawful and right, he will save his life. ²⁸ Because he thinks it over and repents of all the transgressions he committed, he will certainly live, not die. ²⁹ Yet the house of Isra’el says, ‘Adonai’s way isn’t fair.’ House of Isra’el, is it my ways that are unfair, or your ways that are unfair? ³⁰ Therefore, house of Isra’el, I will judge each of you according to his ways,” says Adonai Elohim. “Repent, and turn yourselves away from all your transgressions, so that they will not be a stumblingblock that brings guilt upon you. ³¹ Throw far away from yourselves all your crimes that you committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit; for why should you die, house of Isra’el? ³² I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” says Adonai Elohim, “so turn yourselves around, and live!