Ezekiel 17 - 18 — Legacy Standard Bible

Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine

17Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, ²“Son of man, propound a riddle and speak a ^aparable to the house of Israel, ³and you will say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “A great ^aeagle with ^bgreat wings, long pinions, and a full plumage of ¹many colors came to ^cLebanon and took away the top of the cedar. ⁴“He plucked off the topmost of its young twigs and brought it to a land of merchants; he set it in a city of traders. ⁵“He also took some of the seed of the land and planted it in a ^afield fit for seed. He ¹placed it beside abundant waters; he set it like a ^bwillow. ⁶“Then it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine with its foliage turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and yielded shoots and sent out branches.

⁷“But there was ¹another great eagle with great wings and much plumage; and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and sent out its foliage toward him from the beds where it was ^aplanted, that he might water it. ⁸“It was planted in a good field beside abundant waters, that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a majestic vine.”’ ⁹“Say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh, “Will it succeed? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit, so that it dries up—so that all its sprouting leaves dry up? And neither by great ¹strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again. ¹⁰“And behold, though it is planted, will it succeed? Will it not ^acompletely dry up as soon as the east wind strikes it—dry up on the beds where it sprouted?”’”

The King Shall Die in Babylon

¹¹Moreover, the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ¹²“Say now to the ^arebellious house, ‘Do you not ^bknow what these things mean?’ Say, ‘Behold, the ^cking of Babylon came to Jerusalem, took its king and princes, and brought them to him in Babylon. ¹³‘He took one of the royal ^aseed and cut a covenant with him and brought him under ^boath. He also took away the ^cdominant one of the land, ¹⁴that the kingdom might ¹^,^abecome lowly, not lifting itself up, but keeping his covenant that it might continue. ¹⁵‘But he ^arebelled against him by sending his messengers to Egypt that they might give him horses and many ¹troops. Will he succeed? Will he who does such things ^bescape? Can he indeed break the covenant and escape? ¹⁶‘As I live,’ declares Lord Yahweh, ‘Surely in the ¹country of the king who made him king, whose oath he ^adespised and whose covenant he broke, ²^,^bin Babylon he shall die. ¹⁷‘^aAnd Pharaoh with his mighty military force and great assembly will not ¹help him in the war, when they cast up ramps and build siege walls to cut off many lives. ¹⁸‘Now he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he ¹^,^apledged his allegiance, yet did all these things; he shall not escape.’” ¹⁹Therefore, thus says Lord Yahweh, “As I live, surely My oath which he despised and My covenant which he broke, I will ¹put on his head. ²⁰“I will spread My ^anet over him, and he will be ^bcaught in My snare. Then I will bring him to Babylon and ^center into judgment with him there regarding the unfaithful act which he has committed against Me. ²¹“All the ¹^,^achoice men in all his troops will fall by the sword, and the remnant will be scattered to every wind; and you will know that I, Yahweh, have spoken.”

²²Thus says Lord Yahweh, “I will also take a sprig from the lofty top of the cedar and set it out; I will pluck from the topmost of its young twigs a tender one, and I will plant it on an ^aexalted and lofty mountain. ²³“On the high mountain of Israel I will plant it, that it may lift up ¹boughs and yield fruit and become a majestic ^acedar. And birds of every ²kind will dwell under it; they will dwell in the shade of its ³branches. ²⁴“And all the ^atrees of the field will know that I am Yahweh; I bring down the exalted tree, exalt the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree ^bflourish. I am Yahweh; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

The Soul Who Sins Will Die

18Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, ²“^aWhat do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘^bThe fathers eat the sour grapes,But the children’s teeth ¹are set on edge’?

³“As I live,” declares Lord Yahweh, “you are surely not going to use this proverb in Israel anymore. ⁴“Behold, ^aall ¹souls are Mine; the ²soul of the father as well as the ³soul of the son is Mine. The ⁴soul who ^bsins will die.

⁵“But if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness, ⁶and does not ^aeat at the mountain shrines or ^blift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or ^cdefile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period— ⁷if a man does not mistreat anyone, but ^areturns to the debtor his pledge, ^bdoes not commit robbery, but ^cgives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, ⁸if he does not lend money on ^ainterest or take ^bincrease, if he turns his hand from injustice and ^cdoes true justice between man and man, ⁹if he walks in ^aMy statutes and My judgments and is careful to do the truth—^bhe is righteous and will surely ^clive,” declares Lord Yahweh.

¹⁰“Then he may ¹have a violent son who sheds blood and who does any of these things to a brother ¹¹(though he himself did not do any of these things), that is, he even eats at the mountain shrines and ^adefiles his neighbor’s wife; ¹²he mistreats the ^aafflicted and needy, ^bcommits robbery, does not return a pledge, but lifts up his eyes to the idols and ^cdoes abominations; ¹³he ^alends money on interest and takes increase; will he live? He will not live! He has done all these abominations; he will surely be put to death; his ^bblood will be on himself.

¹⁴“Now behold, he ¹has a son who has seen all his father’s sins which he has done. And he ^asaw this but does not do likewise. ¹⁵“He does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife ¹⁶or mistreat anyone, or retain a pledge or commit robbery, but he ^agives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing; ¹⁷he turns his hand away from ¹the afflicted, does not take interest or increase, but does My judgments and walks in My statutes; ^ahe will not die for his father’s iniquity; he will surely live. ¹⁸“As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity.

¹⁹“Yet you say, ‘^aWhy should the son not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity?’ But the son has done ^bjustice and righteousness and has kept all My statutes and done them. He shall surely live. ²⁰“The soul who ^asins will die. The ^bson will not bear the iniquity of the father, nor will the father bear the iniquity of the son; the ^crighteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

²¹“But if the ^awicked man turns from all his sins which he has done and keeps all My statutes and does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²²“^aAll his transgressions which he has done will not be remembered against him; because of his ^brighteousness which he has done, he will live. ²³“^aDo I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares Lord Yahweh, “is it not that he should ^bturn from his ways and live?

²⁴“But when a righteous man ^aturns away from his righteousness, does injustice, and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? ^bAll his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his ^cunfaithfulness which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die. ²⁵“Yet you say, ‘^aThe way of the Lord is not right.’ Hear now, O house of Israel! Is ^bMy way not right? Is it not your ways that are not right? ²⁶“When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, does injustice, and dies because of it, for his injustice which he has done he will die. ²⁷“Again, when a wicked man turns away ^afrom his wickedness which he has done and does justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life. ²⁸“Again, he considered and turned away from all his transgressions which he had done; he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²⁹“But the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not right.’ Are My ways not right, O house of Israel? Is it not your ways that are not right?

³⁰“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, each according to his way,” declares Lord Yahweh. “¹^,^aTurn back and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. ³¹“^aCast away from yourselves all your transgressions which you have committed and ¹make yourselves a ^bnew heart and a new spirit! Now why will you die, O house of Israel? ³²“For I have ^ano pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares Lord Yahweh. “Therefore, ¹turn back and live.”