11 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Say to this rebellious people, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?(A)’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles,(B) bringing them back with him to Babylon.(C) 13 Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty(D) with him, putting him under oath.(E) He also carried away the leading men(F) of the land, 14 so that the kingdom would be brought low,(G) unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. 15 But the king rebelled(H) against him by sending his envoys to Egypt(I) to get horses and a large army.(J) Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?(K)

16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die(L) in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke.(M) 17 Pharaoh(N) with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps(O) are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives.(P) 18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge(Q) and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.

19 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant.(R) 20 I will spread my net(S) for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment(T) on him there because he was unfaithful(U) to me. 21 All his choice troops will fall by the sword,(V) and the survivors(W) will be scattered to the winds.(X) Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.(Y)

22 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot(Z) from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.(AA) 23 On the mountain heights(AB) of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit(AC) and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches.(AD) 24 All the trees of the forest(AE) will know that I the Lord bring down(AF) the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.(AG)

“‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.(AH)’”

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11 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying, 12 “Say now to the rebellious house of Israel, ‘Do you not know what these are?’[b] Say, ‘Look! The king of Babylon will come to Jerusalem, and he will take its king and its officials, and he will bring[c] them to himself,[d] to Babylon. 13 And he took from the seed of the kingship, and he made with him a covenant, and he brought him under oath,[e] and he took the rulers of the land, 14 so that they would be a humble kingdom and not lift itself up to keep his covenant in order for it to stand.[f] 15 But he rebelled against him by sending his messengers to Egypt to give to him horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he escape doing these things, and can he break the covenant and escape? 16 As I live,’[g] declares[h] the Lord Yahweh, ‘surely[i] in the place of the king who made[j] him king, who despised his oath and who broke his covenant with him—in the midst of Babylon he will die. 17 And not with a great army and with a great crowd will Pharaoh work[k] with him in the war, at the pouring out of a siege ramp and the building of siege works to destroy many lives. 18 And he despised the oath to break covenant. And, look, he gave his hand in pledge, and yet he did all of these things. He will not escape.’ 19 Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘As I live,[l] surely[m] my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke I will return upon his head. 20 And I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my hunting net, and I will bring him to Babylon, and I will enter into judgment with him there about his infidelity that he displayed against me. 21 And all of his choice troops, among all of his troops, they will fall by the sword, and those who are remaining,[n] they will be scattered to all the directions of the wind, and you will know that I, Yahweh, I have spoken.’ 22 Thus says the Lord Yahweh: ‘And I will take, even I, from the treetop of the high cedar, and I will plant it, from the head of its new plant shoot I will pluck a tender one, and I will plant it, even I, on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the height of the mountain of Israel I will plant it, and it will carry[o] branches,[p] and it will bear fruit, and it will become a noble cedar,[q] and all of the birds of all wings[r] will dwell under it in the shade of its branches. 24 And all of the trees of the field will know that I, Yahweh, I will bring low a high tree, and I will exalt a low, fresh tree, and I will make a dry tree flourish. I, Yahweh, I have spoken, and I will do it.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 17:11 Literally “was”
  2. Ezekiel 17:12 Or “mean”
  3. Ezekiel 17:12 Or “take”
  4. Ezekiel 17:12 Hebrew “him”
  5. Ezekiel 17:13 Literally “and he brought him into oath”
  6. Ezekiel 17:14 Literally “to standing her”; or “to let her stand”
  7. Ezekiel 17:16 Literally “live I”
  8. Ezekiel 17:16 Literally “declaration of”
  9. Ezekiel 17:16 Literally “if not”
  10. Ezekiel 17:16 Literally “who he was making”
  11. Ezekiel 17:17 Or “help/aid”
  12. Ezekiel 17:19 Literally “live I”
  13. Ezekiel 17:19 Literally “if not”
  14. Ezekiel 17:21 Or “left over”
  15. Ezekiel 17:23 Or “bear”
  16. Ezekiel 17:23 Hebrew “branch”
  17. Ezekiel 17:23 Literally “he will be to a cedar noble”
  18. Ezekiel 17:23 Or “kinds”