Ezekiel 17
Easy-to-Read Version
The Eagle and the Vine
17 Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, 2 “Son of man,[a] I have a story with a hidden meaning for you to tell the family of Israel. 3 Tell them that this is what the Lord God says:
“‘A large eagle with big wings came to Lebanon.
He had feathers covered with spots.
4 He broke the top out of that big cedar tree and brought it to Canaan.
He set the branch down in a city of merchants.
5 Then the eagle took some of the seeds from Canaan.
He planted them in good soil by a good river.
6 The seeds grew and became a grapevine.
It was a good vine.
The vine was not tall,
but it spread to cover a large area.
The vine grew stems,
and smaller vines grew very long.
7 Then another eagle with big wings saw the grapevine.
The eagle had many feathers.
The grapevine wanted this new eagle to care for it.
So it stretched its roots and branches toward the eagle.
Its branches stretched toward this eagle.
The branches grew away from the field where it was planted.
The grapevine wanted the new eagle to water it.
8 The grapevine was planted in a good field near plenty of water.
It could have grown branches and fruit.
It could have become a very good grapevine.’”
9 This is what the Lord God says:
“Do you think that plant will succeed?
No, the new eagle will pull the plant from the ground,
and the bird will break the plant’s roots.
It will eat up all the grapes.
Then the new leaves will wilt.
That plant will be very weak.
It will not take strong arms
or a powerful nation to pull that plant up by the roots.
10 Will the plant grow where it is planted?
No, the hot east wind will blow, and the plant will become dry and die.
It will die there where it was planted.”
King Zedekiah Punished
11 The word of the Lord came to me. He said, 12 “Explain this story to the people of Israel who always turn against me. Tell them this: The first eagle is the king of Babylonia. He came to Jerusalem and took away the king and other leaders. He brought them to Babylonia. 13 Then Nebuchadnezzar made an agreement with a man from the king’s family. Nebuchadnezzar forced that man to make a promise. So this man promised to be loyal to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar made this man the new king of Judah. Then he took all the powerful men away from Judah. 14 So Judah became a weak kingdom that could not turn against King Nebuchadnezzar. The people were forced to keep the agreement Nebuchadnezzar made with the new king of Judah. 15 But this new king tried to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar anyway! He sent messengers to Egypt to ask for help. The new king asked for many horses and soldiers. Now, do you think the new king of Judah will succeed? Do you think the new king will have enough power to break the agreement and escape punishment?”
16 The Lord God says, “By my life, I swear that this new king will die in Babylonia! Nebuchadnezzar made this man the new king of Judah, but he broke his promise with Nebuchadnezzar. This new king ignored that agreement. 17 The king of Egypt will not be able to save the king of Judah. He might send many soldiers, but Egypt’s great power will not save Judah. Nebuchadnezzar’s army will build dirt roads and dirt walls to capture the city. Many people will die. 18 But the king of Judah will not escape, because he ignored his agreement. He broke his promise to Nebuchadnezzar.” 19 The Lord God makes this promise: “By my life, I swear that I will punish the king of Judah, because he ignored my warnings and broke our agreement. 20 I will set my trap, and he will be caught in it. Then I will bring him to Babylon, and I will punish him there. I will punish him because he turned against me, 21 and I will destroy his army. I will destroy his best soldiers and scatter them to the wind. Then you will know that I am the Lord and that I told you these things.”
22 This is what the Lord God says:
“I will take a branch from a tall cedar tree.
I will take a small branch from the top of the tree,
and I myself will plant it on a very high mountain.
23 I myself will plant it on a high mountain in Israel.
That branch will grow into a tree.
It will grow branches and make fruit
and become a beautiful cedar tree.
Many birds will sit on its branches
and live in the shadows under its branches.
24 “Then the other trees will know that
I, the Lord, make tall trees fall to the ground,
and I make small trees grow tall.
I make green trees become dry,
and I make dry trees become green.
I am the Lord.
If I say that I will do something, then I will do it!”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 17:2 Son of man This was usually just a way of saying “a person” or “a human being.” Here, it is a way of addressing Ezekiel.
Ezekiel 17
King James Version
17 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.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International