Ezekiel 17-19

Revised Geneva Translation

17 And the Word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² “Son of man, put forth a parable and speak a proverb to the House of Israel,

³ “and say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “The great eagle, with great wings, long wings, full of feathers, which had diverse colors, came to Lebanon and took the highest branch of the cedar,

⁴ “and broke off the top of his twig and carried it into the land of trade and set it in a city of merchants.

⁵ “He also took from the seed of the land and planted it in fruitful ground. He placed it by great waters and set it as a willow tree.

⁶ “And it budded up and was like a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned toward it, and its roots were under it. So it became a vine, and it brought forth branches and shot forth buds.

⁷ “There was also another great eagle, with great wings and many feathers. And behold, this vine turned her roots toward it and spread forth her branches toward it, so that she might water it near the trenches of her planting.

⁸ “It was planted in a good soil by great waters, so that it would bring forth branches, and bear fruit, and be an excellent vine.”’

⁹ “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots and destroy its fruit and cause them to dry up? All the leaves of her bud shall wither without great power or many people to pluck it up by its roots.

¹⁰ “Behold, it was planted, but shall it prosper? Shall it not dry up and wither? When the East wind shall touch it, it shall wither in the trenches where it grew.”’”

¹¹ Moreover, 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 Babel has come to Jerusalem, and has taken its king and its princes and led them with him to Babel,

¹³ ‘and has taken the king’s seed and made a covenant with him and has taken an oath from him. He has also taken the princes of the land,

¹⁴ ‘so that the kingdom might be in subjection, and not lift itself up, keeping their covenant so that it might stand.

¹⁵ ‘But he rebelled against him and sent his ambassadors into Egypt, so that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape who does such things? Or shall he break the covenant and still be delivered?

¹⁶ ‘As I live,’ says the Lord GOD, ‘in the place of the king who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, with him he shall die in the midst of Babel.

¹⁷ ‘Nor shall Pharaoh, with his mighty army and great multitude of people, maintain him in the war when they have cast up siege mounds and built ramparts to destroy many people.

¹⁸ ‘For he has despised the oath and broken the covenant (yet, lo, he had given his hand). Because he has done all these things, he shall not escape.’”

¹⁹ Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: “As I live, I will surely bring My oath that he has despised, and My Covenant that he has broken, upon his own head.

²⁰ “And I will spread My net upon him, and he shall be taken in My net. And I will bring him to Babel and will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he has committed against Me.

²¹ “And all who flee from him, with all his army, shall fall by the sword. And those who remain shall be scattered toward all the winds. And you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it.”

²² Thus says the Lord GOD: “I will also take off the top of this high cedar, and will set it out. And I will cut off the top of its tender plant; and I will plant it upon a high and great mountain.

²³ “On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it. And it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be an excellent cedar. And all birds shall remain under it. Every bird shall dwell in the shadow of its branches.

²⁴ “And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, that I have dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish. I, the LORD, have spoken it and have done it.”

18 The Word of the LORD came to me again, saying:

² “What do you mean when you speak this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?’

³ “As I live,” says the Lord GOD, you shall no longer use this proverb in Israel.

⁴ “Behold, all souls are Mine. Both the soul of the father, and also the soul of the son, are Mine. The soul that sins, it shall die.

⁵ “But if a man is just, and does that which is lawful and right,

⁶ “has not eaten upon the mountains or lifted up his eyes to the idols of the House of Israel or defiled his neighbor’s wife or approached a menstruous woman,

⁷ “or oppressed anyone; if he has restored the pledge to his debtor, has robbed no one by violence, has given his bread to the hungry, and has covered the naked with a garment,

⁸ “has not lent with usury or taken any increase, has withdrawn his hand from iniquity, and has executed true judgment between man and man,

⁹ “and has walked in My Statutes, and has kept My Judgments, to deal truly, he is just. He shall surely live,” says the Lord GOD.

¹⁰ “If he begets a son who is a thief or a shedder of blood, if he does any of these things

¹¹ “(even if he does not do all these things, but still has): eaten upon the mountains or defiled his neighbor’s wife,

¹² “has oppressed the poor and needy or has robbed by violence or has not restored the pledge or has lifted up his eyes to idols or has committed abomination,

¹³ “has lent with usury or taken increase, shall he live? He shall not live, seeing he has done all these abominations. He shall die the death. His blood shall be upon himself.

¹⁴ “But if he begets a son who sees all his father’s sins which he has done, and fears but doesn’t do the same,

¹⁵ “so that he has not eaten upon the mountains or lifted up his eyes to the idols of the House of Israel or defiled his neighbor’s wife

¹⁶ “or oppressed anyone or withheld the pledge or robbed by violence; but has given his bread to the hungry, has covered the naked with a garment,

¹⁷ “has not withdrawn his hand from the afflicted or received usury or increase but has executed My Judgments and walked in My Statutes, he shall not die in the iniquity of his father. He shall surely live.

¹⁸ “His father, because he cruelly oppressed and robbed his brother by violence, and has not done good among his people, lo, he dies in his iniquity.

¹⁹ “Yet you say, ‘Why shouldn’t the son bear the iniquity of the father?’ —because the son has executed judgment and justice and has kept all My Statutes and done them. He shall surely live.

²⁰ “The same soul that sins shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

²¹ “But if the wicked will turn away from all his sins that he has committed, and keep all My Statutes, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live and shall not die.

²² “All his transgressions that he has committed, they shall not be mentioned to him. In his righteousness that he has done, he shall live.

²³ “Have I any desire that the wicked should die,” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should live, if he returns from his ways?

²⁴ “But if the righteous turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, doing according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be mentioned. In his transgression that he has committed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die.

²⁵ “Yet you say, ‘The way of the LORD is not equal.’ Hear now, O House of Israel! Is it not My way which is equal, and your ways unequal?

²⁶ “When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, and commits iniquity, he shall die for the same. He shall die for his iniquity that he has done.

²⁷ “Again, when the wicked turns away from his wickedness that he has committed, and does that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.

²⁸ “Because he considers and turns away from all his transgressions that he has committed, he shall surely live and shall not die.

²⁹ “Still, the House of Israel says, ‘The way of the LORD is not equal.’ O House of Israel! Is it not My way which is equal, and your ways unequal?

³⁰ “Therefore, I will judge you, O House of Israel, everyone according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your destruction.

³¹ “Cast away from you all your transgressions by which you have transgressed and make yourself a new heart and a new spirit. For why will you die, O House of Israel?

³² “For I do not desire the death of him who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, therefore, and live!”

19 “Also, take up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

² “and say, ‘Why did your mother, a lioness, lay down among the lions? She nourished her young ones among the lion’s whelps.

³ ‘And she brought up one of her whelps, and it became a lion. It learned to catch the prey, and it devoured men.

⁴ ‘The nations also heard of him. He was taken in their nets, and they brought him to the land of Egypt in chains.

⁵ ‘Now when she saw that she had waited, and her hope was lost, she took another of her whelps and made him a lion.

⁶ ‘which went among the lions, and became a lion, and learned to catch prey. He devoured men,

⁷ ‘and he knew their widows, and he destroyed their cities, and the land was wasted, and all that was in it, by the noise of his roaring.

⁸ ‘Then the nations set against him on every side of the countries and laid their nets for him. So, he was taken in their pit.

⁹ ‘And they put him in prison, in chains, and brought him to the king of Babel. They put him in a stronghold, so that his voice would no longer be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

¹⁰ ‘Your mother is like a vine in your blood, planted by the waters. She brought forth fruit and branches by the abundant waters,

¹¹ ‘and she had strong rods for the scepters of those who bear rule. And her stature was exalted among the branches, and she appeared in her height with the multitude of her branches.

¹² ‘But she was plucked up in wrath. She was cast down to the ground, and the East wind dried up her fruit. Her branches were broken and withered. The fire consumed the rod of her strength.

¹³ ‘And now she is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground.

¹⁴ ‘And fire has gone out of a rod of her branches, which has devoured her fruit, so that she has no strong rod, no ruling scepter.’” This is a lamentation and shall be a lamentation.