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, ³and 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.
⁴He cropped off its topmost young twig
And carried it to a land of trade;
He set it in a city of merchants.
⁵Then 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.
⁶And 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.
⁸It 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.
¹⁰Behold, 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.” ’ ”

¹¹Moreover 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, ¹⁴that the kingdom might be ^(N)brought low and not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand. ¹⁵But ^(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. ¹⁸Since 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.’ ”

¹⁹Therefore 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. ²⁰I 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)

²²Thus 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. ²⁴And 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.
⁵But 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;
⁷If 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;
⁸If 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;
⁹If 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
¹¹And does none of those duties,
But has eaten ^[j]on the mountains
Or defiled his neighbor’s wife;
¹²If he has oppressed the poor and needy,
Robbed by violence,
Not restored the pledge,
Lifted his eyes to the idols,
Or ^(AV)committed abomination;
¹³If 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;
¹⁶Has 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;
¹⁷Who 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. ²⁷Again, ^(BM)when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. ²⁸Because 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? ³²For ^(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)