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Ezekiel 17-18
New King James Version
Ezekiel 17-18
New King James Version
The Eagles and the Vine
17 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 2 “Son of man, pose a riddle, and speak a (A)parable to the house of Israel, 3 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
(B)“A great eagle with large wings and long pinions,
Full of feathers of various colors,
Came to Lebanon
And (C)took from the cedar the highest branch.
4 He cropped off its topmost young twig
And carried it to a land of trade;
He set it in a city of merchants.
5 Then he took some of the seed of the land
And planted it in (D)a fertile field;
He placed it by abundant waters
And set it (E)like a willow tree.
6 And it grew and became a spreading vine (F)of low stature;
Its branches turned toward him,
But its roots were under it.
So it became a vine,
Brought forth branches,
And put forth shoots.
7 “But there was [a]another great eagle with large wings and many feathers;
And behold, (G)this vine bent its roots toward him,
And stretched its branches toward him,
From the garden terrace where it had been planted,
That he might water it.
8 It was planted in [b]good soil by many waters,
To bring forth branches, bear fruit,
And become a majestic vine.” ’
9 “Say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
“Will it thrive?
(H)Will he not pull up its roots,
Cut off its fruit,
And leave it to wither?
All of its spring leaves will wither,
And no great power or many people
Will be needed to pluck it up by its roots.
10 Behold, it is planted,
Will it thrive?
(I)Will it not utterly wither when the east wind touches it?
It will wither in the garden terrace where it grew.” ’ ”
11 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 12 “Say now to (J)the rebellious house: ‘Do you not know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Indeed (K)the king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and took its king and princes, and led them with him to Babylon. 13 (L)And he took the king’s offspring, made a covenant with him, (M)and put him under oath. He also took away the mighty of the land, 14 that the kingdom might be (N)brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. 15 But (O)he rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt, (P)that they might give him horses and many people. (Q)Will he prosper? Will he who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and still be delivered?
16 ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely (R)in the place where the king dwells who made him king, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke—with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die. 17 (S)Nor will Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company do anything in the war, (T)when they heap up a siege mound and build a [c]wall to cut off many persons. 18 Since he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and in fact (U)gave[d] his hand and still did all these things, he shall not escape.’ ”
19 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head. 20 I will (V)spread My net over him, and he shall be taken in My snare. I will bring him to Babylon and (W)try him there for the [e]treason which he committed against Me. 21 (X)All his [f]fugitives with all his troops shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall be (Y)scattered to every wind; and you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken.”
Israel Exalted at Last(Z)
22 Thus says the Lord God: “I will take also one of the highest (AA)branches of the high cedar and set it out. I will crop off from the topmost of its young twigs (AB)a tender one, and will (AC)plant it on a high and prominent mountain. 23 (AD)On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it; and it will bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a majestic cedar. (AE)Under it will dwell birds of every sort; in the shadow of its branches they will dwell. 24 And all the trees of the field shall know that I, the Lord, (AF)have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish; (AG)I, the Lord, have spoken and have done it.”
A False Proverb Refuted
18 The word of the Lord came to me again, saying, 2 “What do you mean when you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying:
‘The (AH)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 (AI)Mine;
The soul of the father
As well as the soul of the son is Mine;
(AJ)The soul who sins shall die.
5 But if a man is just
And does what is lawful and right;
6 (AK)If he has not eaten [g]on the mountains,
Nor lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor (AL)defiled his neighbor’s wife,
Nor approached (AM)a woman during her impurity;
7 If he has not (AN)oppressed anyone,
But has restored to the debtor his (AO)pledge;
Has robbed no one by violence,
But has (AP)given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with (AQ)clothing;
8 If he has not [h]exacted (AR)usury
Nor taken any increase,
But has withdrawn his hand from iniquity
And (AS)executed true [i]judgment between man and man;
9 If he has walked in My statutes
And kept My judgments faithfully—
He is just;
He shall surely (AT)live!”
Says the Lord God.
10 “If he begets a son who is a robber
Or (AU)a shedder of blood,
Who does any of these things
11 And does none of those duties,
But has eaten [j]on the mountains
Or defiled his neighbor’s wife;
12 If he has oppressed the poor and needy,
Robbed by violence,
Not restored the pledge,
Lifted his eyes to the idols,
Or (AV)committed abomination;
13 If he has exacted usury
Or taken increase—
Shall he then live?
He shall not live!
If he has done any of these abominations,
He shall surely die;
(AW)His blood shall be upon him.
14 “If, however, he begets a son
Who sees all the sins which his father has done,
And considers but does not do likewise;
15 (AX)Who has not eaten [k]on the mountains,
Nor lifted his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel,
Nor defiled his neighbor’s wife;
16 Has not oppressed anyone,
Nor withheld a pledge,
Nor robbed by violence,
But has given his bread to the hungry
And covered the naked with clothing;
17 Who has withdrawn his hand from [l]the poor
And not received usury or increase,
But has executed My judgments
And walked in My statutes—
He shall not die for the iniquity of his father;
He shall surely live!
18 “As for his father,
Because he cruelly oppressed,
Robbed his brother by violence,
And did what is not good among his people,
Behold, (AY)he shall die for his iniquity.
Turn and Live
19 “Yet you say, ‘Why (AZ)should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. 20 (BA)The soul who sins shall die. (BB)The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. (BC)The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, (BD)and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.
21 “But (BE)if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 (BF)None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall (BG)live. 23 (BH)Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live?
24 “But (BI)when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? (BJ)All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die.
25 “Yet you say, (BK)‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? 26 (BL)When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. 27 Again, (BM)when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. 28 Because he (BN)considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 (BO)Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair?
30 (BP)“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. (BQ)“Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 (BR)Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a (BS)new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For (BT)I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and (BU)live!”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 17:7 So with LXX, Syr., Vg.; MT, Tg. one
- Ezekiel 17:8 Lit. a good field
- Ezekiel 17:17 Or siege wall
- Ezekiel 17:18 Took an oath
- Ezekiel 17:20 Lit. unfaithful act
- Ezekiel 17:21 So with MT, Vg.; many Heb. mss., Syr. choice men; Tg. mighty men; LXX omits All his fugitives
- Ezekiel 18:6 At the mountain shrines
- Ezekiel 18:8 Lent money at interest
- Ezekiel 18:8 justice
- Ezekiel 18:11 At the mountain shrines
- Ezekiel 18:15 At the mountain shrines
- Ezekiel 18:17 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX iniquity (cf. v. 8)
Ezekiel 17-18
New International Version
Ezekiel 17-18
New International Version
Two Eagles and a Vine
17 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable.(A) 3 Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A great eagle(B) with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon.(C) Taking hold of the top of a cedar, 4 he broke off(D) its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders.
5 “‘He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water,(E) 6 and it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches(F) turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy boughs.(G)
7 “‘But there was another great eagle with powerful wings and full plumage. The vine now sent out its roots toward him from the plot where it was planted and stretched out its branches to him for water.(H) 8 It had been planted in good soil by abundant water so that it would produce branches,(I) bear fruit and become a splendid vine.’
9 “Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Will it thrive? Will it not be uprooted and stripped of its fruit so that it withers? All its new growth will wither. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up by the roots.(J) 10 It has been planted,(K) but will it thrive? Will it not wither completely when the east wind strikes it—wither away in the plot where it grew?(L)’”
11 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 12 “Say to this rebellious people, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?(M)’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles,(N) bringing them back with him to Babylon.(O) 13 Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty(P) with him, putting him under oath.(Q) He also carried away the leading men(R) of the land, 14 so that the kingdom would be brought low,(S) unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. 15 But the king rebelled(T) against him by sending his envoys to Egypt(U) to get horses and a large army.(V) Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?(W)
16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die(X) in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke.(Y) 17 Pharaoh(Z) with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps(AA) are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives.(AB) 18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge(AC) 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.(AD) 20 I will spread my net(AE) for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment(AF) on him there because he was unfaithful(AG) to me. 21 All his choice troops will fall by the sword,(AH) and the survivors(AI) will be scattered to the winds.(AJ) Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.(AK)
22 “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot(AL) 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.(AM) 23 On the mountain heights(AN) of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit(AO) and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches.(AP) 24 All the trees of the forest(AQ) will know that I the Lord bring down(AR) the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.(AS)
“‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.(AT)’”
The One Who Sins Will Die
18 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “What do you people mean by quoting this proverb about the land of Israel:
“‘The parents eat sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge’?(AU)
3 “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, you will no longer quote this proverb(AV) in Israel. 4 For everyone belongs to me, the parent as well as the child—both alike belong to me. The one who sins(AW) is the one who will die.(AX)
5 “Suppose there is a righteous man
who does what is just and right.
6 He does not eat at the mountain(AY) shrines
or look to the idols(AZ) of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife
or have sexual relations with a woman during her period.(BA)
7 He does not oppress(BB) anyone,
but returns what he took in pledge(BC) for a loan.
He does not commit robbery(BD)
but gives his food to the hungry(BE)
and provides clothing for the naked.(BF)
8 He does not lend to them at interest
or take a profit from them.(BG)
He withholds his hand from doing wrong
and judges fairly(BH) between two parties.
9 He follows my decrees(BI)
and faithfully keeps my laws.
That man is righteous;(BJ)
he will surely live,(BK)
declares the Sovereign Lord.
10 “Suppose he has a violent son, who sheds blood(BL) or does any of these other things[a] 11 (though the father has done none of them):
“He eats at the mountain shrines.(BM)
He defiles his neighbor’s wife.
12 He oppresses the poor(BN) and needy.
He commits robbery.
He does not return what he took in pledge.(BO)
He looks to the idols.
He does detestable things.(BP)
13 He lends at interest and takes a profit.(BQ)
Will such a man live? He will not! Because he has done all these detestable things, he is to be put to death; his blood will be on his own head.(BR)
14 “But suppose this son has a son who sees all the sins his father commits, and though he sees them, he does not do such things:(BS)
15 “He does not eat at the mountain shrines(BT)
or look to the idols(BU) of Israel.
He does not defile his neighbor’s wife.
16 He does not oppress anyone
or require a pledge for a loan.
He does not commit robbery
but gives his food to the hungry(BV)
and provides clothing for the naked.(BW)
17 He withholds his hand from mistreating the poor
and takes no interest or profit from them.
He keeps my laws(BX) and follows my decrees.
He will not die for his father’s sin; he will surely live. 18 But his father will die for his own sin, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was wrong among his people.
19 “Yet you ask, ‘Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?’ Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live.(BY) 20 The one who sins is the one who will die.(BZ) The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.(CA)
21 “But if(CB) a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees(CC) and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die.(CD) 22 None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live.(CE) 23 Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased(CF) when they turn from their ways and live?(CG)
24 “But if a righteous person turns(CH) from their righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked person does, will they live? None of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness(CI) they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die.(CJ)
25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’(CK) Hear, you Israelites: Is my way unjust?(CL) Is it not your ways that are unjust? 26 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and commits sin, they will die for it; because of the sin they have committed they will die. 27 But if a wicked person turns away from the wickedness they have committed and does what is just and right, they will save their life.(CM) 28 Because they consider all the offenses they have committed and turn away from them, that person will surely live; they will not die.(CN) 29 Yet the Israelites say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Are my ways unjust, people of Israel? Is it not your ways that are unjust?
30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent!(CO) Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall.(CP) 31 Rid(CQ) yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart(CR) and a new spirit. Why(CS) will you die, people of Israel?(CT) 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent(CU) and live!(CV)
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 18:10 Or things to a brother
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.