It sprouted and became a vine, spreading low to the ground; ¹  its branches turning toward him, ²  its roots were under itself. ³  So it became a vine; it produced shoots and sent out branches.

Its boughs were strong, fit ¹  for rulers’ scepters; it reached up into the clouds. It stood out because of its height and its many branches. ² 

Consider Assyria, ¹  a cedar in Lebanon, ²  with beautiful branches, like a forest giving shade, and extremely tall; its top reached into the clouds.

Therefore it grew taller than all the trees of the field; its boughs grew large and its branches grew long, because of the plentiful water in its shoots. ¹ 

“‘Therefore this is what the sovereign Lord says: Because it was tall in stature, and its top reached into the clouds, and it was proud of its height,

and say ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Woe to those who sew bands ¹  on all their wrists ²  and make headbands ³  for heads of every size to entrap people’s lives! ⁴  Will you entrap my people’s lives, yet preserve your own lives?

I saw ¹  a wall all around the outside of the temple. ²  In the man’s hand was a measuring stick 10½ feet ³  long. He measured the thickness of the wall ⁴  as 10½ feet, ⁵  and its height as 10½ feet.

For this reason no watered trees will grow so tall; their tops will not reach into the clouds, nor will the well-watered ones grow that high. ¹  For all of them have been appointed to die in the lower parts of the earth; ²  they will be among mere mortals, ³  with those who descend to the pit.