1And the word of YHWH came to me, saying:
2Son of man (adam), put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel,
3and you shall say: Thus says my Lord (Adonai) YHWH: The great eagle, great of wings, long of pinion, full of plumage, which had varied colors, came to Lebanon, and took the top of the cedar.
4The head of its young shoots he cropped off, and he brought it to a land of trade; in a city of merchants he set it.
5And he took of the seed of the land, and put it in a field of seed; by many waters he placed it, as a willow he set it.
6And it sprouted, and became a spreading vine, low of stature, to turn its branches toward him, and its roots were under him; and it became a vine, and produced boughs, and sent forth branches.
7And there was another great eagle, great of wings and many of plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him, and its branches it sent forth toward him, to water it, from the beds of its planting.
8In a good field, by many waters, it was planted, to produce branches and to bear fruit, to become a majestic vine.
9Say: Thus says my Lord (Adonai) YHWH: Shall it prosper? Shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it withers? All the leaves of its sprouting shall wither; and not with great arm or with much people will it be lifted from its roots.
10And behold, planted, shall it prosper? When the spirit (ruach) of the east touches it, shall it not utterly wither? On the beds of its sprouting it shall wither.
11And the word of YHWH came to me, saying:
12Say now to the rebellious house: Do you not know what these are? Say: Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took her king and her princes, and brought them to him to Babylon.
13And he took of the royal seed, and cut with him a covenant (berit), and brought him under an oath; and the mighty of the land he took,
14that the kingdom might be lowly, not lifting itself up, to keep his covenant (berit) that it might stand.
15But he rebelled against him, to send his messengers to Egypt, to give to him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? Shall he escape, the one doing these? And shall he break the covenant (berit) and escape?
16As I live (chai), declares my Lord (Adonai) YHWH, surely in the place of the king who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant (berit) he broke — with him, in the midst of Babylon, he shall die.
17And not with a great army and with a great assembly will Pharaoh act with him in the war, when they cast up a mound and build a siege-wall, to cut off many souls (nephesh).
18And he despised an oath, to break a covenant (berit); and behold, he had given his hand, yet all these he did — he shall not escape.
19Therefore thus says my Lord (Adonai) YHWH: As I live (chai), surely my oath that he despised, and my covenant (berit) that he broke, I will bring it upon his head.
20And I will spread my net over him, and he shall be caught in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and I will enter into judgment with him there for his trespass that he trespassed against me.
21And all his fugitives in all his bands shall fall by the sword, and those remaining shall be scattered to every spirit (ruach); and you shall know that I YHWH have spoken.
22Thus says my Lord (Adonai) YHWH: And I myself will take from the top of the lofty cedar, and I will set it; from the head of its young shoots a tender one I will crop off, and I myself will plant it upon a high and lofty mountain.
23On the mountain of the height of Israel I will plant it, and it shall lift up boughs and bear fruit, and become a majestic cedar; and under it shall dwell every bird of every wing, in the shade of its branches they shall dwell.
24And all the trees of the field shall know that I YHWH have brought low the high tree, have raised high the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree flourish; I YHWH have spoken, and I have done.