Ezekiel 17-18

Ezekiel 17

¹And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying,

²‘Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use a simile unto the house of Israel,

³and thou hast said: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The great eagle, great-winged, long-pinioned, Full of feathers, that hath diverse colours, Hath come in unto Lebanon, And it taketh the foliage of the cedar,

⁴The top of its tender twigs it hath cropped, And it bringeth it in to the land of Canaan. In a city of merchants it hath placed it.

⁵And it taketh of the seed of the land, And doth put it in a field of seed, To take by many waters, In a conspicuous place it hath set it.

⁶And it springeth up, and becometh a spreading vine, humble of stature, To turn its thin shoots toward itself, And its roots are under it, And it becometh a vine, and maketh boughs, And sendeth forth beauteous branches.

⁷And there is another great eagle, Great-winged, and abounding with feathers, And lo, this vine hath bent its roots toward him, And its thin shoots it hath sent out toward him, To water it from the furrows of its planting,

⁸On a good field, by many waters, it is planted, To make branches, and to bear fruit, To be for an goodly vine.

⁹Say: Thus said the Lord Jehovah: It prospereth -- its roots doth he not draw out, And its fruit cut off, and it is withered? In all the leaves of its springing it withereth, And not by great strength, and by a numerous people, To lift it up by its roots.

¹⁰And lo, the planted thing -- doth it prosper? When come against it doth the east wind, Doth it not utterly wither? On the furrows of its springing it withereth.'

¹¹And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

¹²‘Say, I pray thee, to the rebellious house, Have ye not known what these are? Say, Lo, come hath the king of Babylon to Jerusalem, And he taketh its king, and its princes, And bringeth them to himself to Babylon.

¹³And he taketh of the seed of the kingdom, And maketh with him a covenant, And bringeth him in to an oath, And the mighty of the land he hath taken,

¹⁴That the kingdom may be humble, That it may not lift itself up, To keep his covenant -- that it may stand.

¹⁵And he rebelleth against him, To send his messengers to Egypt, To give to him horses, and much people, Doth he prosper? doth he escape who is doing these things? And hath he broken covenant and escaped?

¹⁶I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Doth he not -- in the place of the king who is causing him to reign, Whose oath he hath despised, And whose covenant he hath broken, With him -- in the midst of Babylon -- die?

¹⁷And not with a great force, and with a numerous assembly, Doth Pharaoh maintain him in battle, By pouring out a mount, and in building a fortification, To cut off many souls.

¹⁸And he despised the oath -- to break covenant, And lo, he hath given his hand, And all these he hath done, he escapeth not.

¹⁹Therefore, thus said the Lord Jehovah: I live -- Mine oath that he hath despised, And My covenant that he hath broken, Have I not put it on his head?

²⁰And I have spread out for him My snare, And he hath been caught in My net, And I have brought him in to Babylon, And pleaded with him there his trespass, That he hath trespassed against Me.

²¹And all his fugitives, with all his bands, By sword do fall, and those remaining, To every wind they are spread out, And ye have known that I, Jehovah, have spoken.

²²Thus said the Lord Jehovah: I have taken of the foliage of the high cedar, And I have set it, From the top of its tender shoots a tender one I crop, And I -- I have planted it on a mountain high and lofty.

²³In a mountain -- the high place of Israel, I plant it, And it hath borne boughs, and yielded fruit, And become a goodly cedar, And dwelt under it have all birds of every wing, In the shade of its thin shoots they dwell.

²⁴And known have all trees of the field That I, Jehovah, have made low the high tree, I have set on high the low tree, I have dried up the moist tree, And I have caused the dry tree to flourish, I, Jehovah, have spoken, and have done it!'

Ezekiel 18

¹‘And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

²‘What -- to you, ye -- using this simile Concerning the ground of Israel, saying: Fathers do eat unripe fruit, And the sons' teeth are blunted?

³I live -- an affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Ye have no more the use of this simile in Israel.

⁴Lo, all the souls are Mine, As the soul of the father, So also the soul of the son -- they are Mine, The soul that is sinning -- it doth die.

⁵And a man, when he is righteous, And hath done judgment and righteousness,

⁶On the mountains he hath not eaten, And his eyes he hath not lifted up Unto idols of the house of Israel, And the wife of his neighbour defiled not, And to a separated woman cometh not near,

⁷A man -- he doth not oppress, His pledge to the debtor he doth return, Plunder he doth not take away, His bread to the hungry he doth give, And the naked doth cover with a garment,

⁸In usury he doth not give, and increase taketh not, From perversity he turneth back his hand, True judgment he doth between man and man.

⁹In My statutes he doth walk, And My judgments he hath kept -- to deal truly, Righteous is he, he surely liveth, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah.

¹⁰And -- he hath begotten a son, A burglar -- a shedder of blood, And he hath made a brother of one of these,

¹¹And he all those hath not done, For even on the mountains he hath eaten, And the wife of his neighbour he hath defiled,

¹²The afflicted and needy he hath oppressed, Plunder he hath taken violently away, A pledge he doth not return, And unto the idols he hath lifted up his eyes, Abomination he hath done!

¹³In usury he hath given, and increase taken, And he liveth: he doth not live, All these abominations he hath done, He doth surely die, his blood is on him.

¹⁴And -- lo, he hath begotten a son, And he seeth all the sins of his father, That he hath done, and he feareth, And doth not do like them,

¹⁵On the mountains he hath not eaten, And his eyes he hath not lifted up Unto idols of the house of Israel, The wife of his neighbour he hath not defiled,

¹⁶A man -- he hath not oppressed, A pledge he hath not bound, And plunder he hath not taken away, His bread to the hungry he hath given, And the naked he covered with a garment,

¹⁷From the afflicted he hath turned back his hand, Usury and increase he hath not taken, My judgments he hath done, In My statutes he hath walked, He doth not die for the iniquity of his father, He doth surely live.

¹⁸His father -- because he used oppression, Did violently Plunder a brother, And that which is not good did in the midst of his people, And lo, he is dying in his iniquity.

¹⁹And ye have said, Wherefore hath not the son, Borne of the iniquity of the father? And -- the son judgment and righteousness hath done, All My statutes he hath kept, And he doeth them, he surely liveth.

²⁰The soul that doth sin -- it doth die. A son doth not bear of the iniquity of the father, And a father doth not bear of the iniquity of the son, The righteousness of the righteous is on him, And the wickedness of the wicked is on him.

²¹And the wicked -- when he turneth back From all his sins that he hath done, And he hath kept all My statutes, And hath done judgment and righteousness, He doth surely live, he doth not die.

²²All his transgressions that he hath done Are not remembered to him, In his righteousness that he hath done he liveth.

²³Do I at all desire the death of the wicked? An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Is it not in his turning back from his way -- And he hath lived?

²⁴And in the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, And he hath done perversity, According to all the abominations That the wicked hath done, he doth -- thus he liveth, All his righteousnesses that he hath done are not remembered, For his trespass that he hath trespassed, And for his sin that he hath sinned, For them he doth die.

²⁵And ye have said, Not pondered is the way of the Lord. Hear, I pray you, O house of Israel, My way -- is it not pondered? Are not your ways unpondered?

²⁶In the turning back of the righteous from his righteousness, And he hath done perversity, And he is dying by them, for his perversity That he hath done he dieth.

²⁷And in the turning back of the wicked From his wickedness that he hath done, And he doth judgment and righteousness, He his soul doth keep alive.

²⁸And he seeth and turneth back, From all his transgressions that he hath done, He doth surely live, he doth not die,

²⁹And the house of Israel have said, Not pondered is the way of the Lord, My ways -- are they not pondered? O house of Israel -- are not your ways unpondered?

³⁰Therefore, each according to his ways I judge you, O house of Israel? An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, Turn ye back, yea, turn yourselves back, From all your transgressions, And iniquity is not to you for a stumbling-block,

³¹Cast from off you all your transgressions, By which ye have transgressed, And make to you a new heart, and a new spirit, And why do ye die, O house of Israel?

³²For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah, And turn ye back and live!