Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

17 Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ² “Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a ^(A)parable to the house of Israel, ³ and you will say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “A great ^(B)eagle with ^(C)great wings, long pinions, and a full plumage of ^[a]many colors came to ^(D)Lebanon and took away the top of the cedar. ⁴ He plucked off the topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a city of traders. ⁵ He also took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a ^(E)field fit for seed. He ^[b]placed it beside abundant waters; he set it like a ^(F)willow. ⁶ Then it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine with its foliage turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and yielded shoots and sent out branches.

⁷ “But there was ^[c]another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and sent out its foliage toward him from the beds where it was ^(G)planted, that he might water it. ⁸ It was planted in a good field beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a majestic vine.”’ ⁹ Say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Will it succeed? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it dries up—so that all its sprouting leaves dry up? And neither by great ^[d]strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again. ¹⁰ And behold, though it is planted, will it succeed? Will it not ^(H)completely dry up as soon as the east wind strikes it—dry up on the beds where it sprouted?”’”