17:16 “‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, surely in the city 5 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 6 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 7 – he gave his promise 8 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 9 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 10 among his troops will die 11 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 12 from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. 13
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 Or “descendants”; Heb “seed” (cf. v. 5).
2 tn Heb “caused him to enter into an oath.”
3 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the member of the royal family, v. 13) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
4 tn Heb “him”; the referent (the king of Babylon) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
5 tn Heb “place.”
6 tn Heb “deal with” or “work with.”
7 tn The word הִנֵּה (hinneh, traditionally “behold”) indicates being aware of or taking notice of something.
8 sn Heb “hand.” “Giving one’s hand” is a gesture of promise (2 Kgs 10:15).
9 tn Heb “place it on his head.”
10 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).
11 tn Heb “fall.”
12 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.
13 tc The LXX lacks “and plant it.”