Ezekiel 17:2-18

² "Son of man , propound a riddle and speak a parable to the house of Israel , ³ saying , 'Thus says the Lord GOD , "A great eagle with great wings , long pinions and a full plumage of many colors came to Lebanon 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 fertile soil . He placed it beside abundant waters ; he set it like a willow . ⁶ "Then it sprouted and became a low , spreading vine with its branches 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 another great eagle with great wings and much plumage ; and behold , this vine bent its roots toward him and sent out its branches toward him from the beds where it was planted , that he might water it. ⁸ "It was planted in good soil beside abundant waters , that it might yield branches and bear fruit and become a splendid vine ."' ⁹ "Say , 'Thus says the Lord GOD , "Will it thrive ? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit , so that it withers -so that all its sprouting leaves wither ? And neither by great strength nor by many people can it be raised from its roots again. ¹⁰ "Behold , though it is planted , will it thrive ? Will it not completely wither as soon as the east wind strikes it-wither on the beds where it grew ?""' ¹¹ Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me, saying , ¹² "Say now to the rebellious house , 'Do you not know what these things mean?' Say , 'Behold , the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem , took its king and princes and brought them to him in Babylon . ¹³ 'He took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath . He also took away the mighty of the land , ¹⁴ that the kingdom might be in subjection , not exalting itself, but keeping his covenant that it might continue . ¹⁵ 'But he rebelled against him by sending his envoys to Egypt that they might give him horses and many troops . Will he succeed ? Will he who does such things escape ? Can he indeed break the covenant and escape ? ¹⁶ 'As I live ,' declares the Lord GOD , 'Surely e in the country of the king who put him on the throne , whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke , in Babylon he shall die . ¹⁷ ' Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company will not help 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 pledged his allegiance , yet did all these things ; he shall not escape .' "