¹¹ Then this message came to me from the Lord:

^12-13 “Ask these rebels of Israel: Don’t you understand what this riddle of the eagles means? I will tell you. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon (the first of the two eagles),^[a] came to Jerusalem, took away her king and princes (her topmost buds and shoots), and brought them to Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar made a covenant with a member of the royal family (Zedekiah), and made him take an oath of loyalty. He took a seedling and planted it in fertile ground beside a broad river. He also exiled the top men of Israel’s government, ¹⁴ so that Israel would not be strong again and revolt. But by keeping her promises, Israel could be respected and maintain her identity.

¹⁵ “Nevertheless, Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon, sending ambassadors to Egypt to seek for a great army and many horses to fight against Nebuchadnezzar. But will Israel prosper after breaking all her promises like that? Will she succeed? ¹⁶ No! For as I live,” says the Lord, “the king of Israel shall die. (Nebuchadnezzar will pull out the tree, roots and all!) Zedekiah shall die in Babylon, where the king lives who gave him his power, and whose covenant he despised and broke. ¹⁷ Pharaoh and all his mighty army shall fail to help Israel when the king of Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem again and slaughters many lives. ¹⁸ For the king of Israel broke his promise after swearing to obey; therefore he shall not escape.”

¹⁹ The Lord God says: “As I live, surely I will punish him for despising the solemn oath he made in my name. ²⁰ I will throw my net over him, and he shall be captured in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and deal with him there for this treason against me. ²¹ And all the best soldiers of Israel will be killed by the sword, and those remaining in the city will be scattered to the four winds. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken these words.”

^22-23 The Lord God says: “I will take a tender sprout from the top of a tall cedar, and I will plant it on the top of Israel’s highest mountain. It shall become a noble cedar, bringing forth branches and bearing seed. Animals of every sort will gather under it; its branches will shelter every kind of bird. ²⁴ And everyone shall know that it is I, the Lord, who cuts down the high trees and exalts the low, that I make the green tree wither and the dead tree grow. I, the Lord, have said that I would do it, and I will.”