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