Ezekiel 17:12-24

17:12 “Say to the rebellious house of Israel: ¹  ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ ²  Say: ‘See here, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem ³  and took her king and her officials prisoner and brought them to himself in Babylon. 17:13 He took one from the royal family, ⁴  made a treaty with him, and put him under oath. ⁵  He then took the leaders of the land 17:14 so it would be a lowly kingdom which could not rise on its own but must keep its treaty with him in order to stand. 17:15 But this one from Israel’s royal family ⁶  rebelled against the king of Babylon ⁷  by sending his emissaries to Egypt to obtain horses and a large army. Will he prosper? Will the one doing these things escape? Can he break the covenant and escape?

17:16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city ⁸  of the king who crowned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke – in the middle of Babylon he will die! 17:17 Pharaoh with his great army and mighty horde will not help ⁹  him in battle, when siege ramps are erected and siege-walls are built to kill many people. 17:18 He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Take note ¹⁰  – he gave his promise ¹¹  and did all these things – he will not escape!

17:19 “‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will certainly repay him ¹²  for despising my oath and breaking my covenant! 17:20 I will throw my net over him and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Babylon and judge him there because of the unfaithfulness he committed against me. 17:21 All the choice men ¹³  among his troops will die ¹⁴  by the sword and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken!

17:22 “‘This is what the sovereign Lord says:

“‘I will take a sprig ¹⁵  from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. ¹⁶ 

I will pluck from the top one of its tender twigs;

I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

17:23 I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel,

and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar.

Every bird will live under it;

Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.

17:24 All the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord.

I make the high tree low; I raise up the low tree.

I make the green tree wither, and I make the dry tree sprout.

I, the Lord, have spoken, and I will do it!’”

¹ tn The words “of Israel” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation as a clarification of the referent.

² sn The narrative description of this interpretation of the riddle is given in 2 Kgs 24:11-15.

³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁴ tn Or “descendants”; Heb “seed” (cf. v. 5).

⁵ tn Heb “caused him to enter into an oath.”

⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁸ tn Heb “place.”

⁹ tn Heb “deal with” or “work with.”

¹⁰ tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something.

¹¹ sn Heb “hand.” “Giving one’s hand” is a gesture of promise (2 Kgs 10:15).

¹² tn Heb “place it on his head.”

¹³ tc Some manuscripts and versions read “choice men,” while most manuscripts read “fugitives”; the difference arises from the reversal, or metathesis, of two letters, מִבְרָחָיו (mivrakhyv) for מִבְחָריו (mivkharyv).

¹⁴ tn Heb “fall.”

¹⁵ sn The language is analogous to messianic imagery in Isa 11:1; Zech 3:8; 6:4 although the technical terminology is not the same.

¹⁶ tc The LXX lacks “and plant it.”