The Two Great Eagles

¹The word of the Lord came to me: ²O mortal, propound a riddle and relate an allegory to the House of Israel. ³Say: Thus said the Lord God: The great eagle with the great wings and the long pinions, ^awith the full plumage and the brilliant colors,^acame to the Lebanon range and seized the top of the cedar. ⁴He plucked off its topmost bough and carried it off to the land of traders and set it in a city of merchants. ⁵He then took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a fertile field; he planted and set it like a willow beside abundant waters. ⁶It grew and became a spreading vine of low stature; it became a vine, produced branches, and sent out boughs. [He had intended] that its twigs should turn to him, and that its roots should stay under him.

⁷But there was another great eagle with great wings and full plumage; and this vine now bent its roots in his direction and sent out its twigs toward him, that he might water it more than the bed where it was planted— ⁸though it was planted in rich soil beside abundant water—so that it might grow branches and produce boughs and be a noble vine.

⁹Say: Thus said the Lord God: Will it thrive? Will he^b not tear out its roots and rip off its crown, so that its entire foliage withers? It shall wither, despite any strong arm or mighty army [that may come] to remove it from its roots. ¹⁰And suppose it is transplanted, will it thrive? When the east wind strikes it, it shall wither—wither upon the bed where it is growing.

¹¹Then the word of the Lord came to me: ¹²Say to the rebellious breed: Do you not know what these things mean? Say: The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and carried away its king and its officers and brought them back with him to Babylon. ¹³He took one of the seed royal and made a covenant with him and imposed an oath on him, and he carried away the nobles of the land—¹⁴so that it might be a humble kingdom and not exalt itself, but keep his covenant and so endure.

¹⁵But [that prince] rebelled against him and sent his envoys to Egypt to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Shall he break a covenant and escape? ¹⁶As I live—declares the Lord God—in the very homeland of the king who made him king, whose oath he flouted and whose covenant he broke—right there, in Babylon, he shall die. ¹⁷Pharaoh will not fight at his side with a great army and with numerous troops in the war, when mounds are thrown up and siege towers erected to destroy many lives. ¹⁸He flouted a pact and broke a covenant; he gave his promise and did all these things—he shall not escape. ¹⁹Assuredly, thus said the Lord God: As I live, I will pay him back for flouting My pact and breaking My covenant. ²⁰I will spread My net over him and he shall be caught in My snare; I will carry him to Babylon and enter with him into judgment there for the trespass which he committed against Me. ²¹And all the fugitives of all his battalions shall fall by the sword, and those who remain shall scatter in every direction; then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.