Ezekiel 17 - Easy To Read Version

¹ Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said,

² “Son of man, {\cf2\super [132]} tell this story to the family of Israel. Ask them what it means.

³ Say to them:

⁴ The eagle broke the top out of the big cedar tree (Lebanon) and brought it to Canaan.\par The eagle set down the branch in the town of businessmen.\par

⁵ Then the eagle took some of the seeds (people) from Canaan\par He planted them in good soil.\par He planted them by a good river.\par

⁶ The seeds grew and became a grapevine.\par It was a good vine.\par The vine was not tall,\par but it spread to cover a large area.\par The vine grew stems,\par and smaller vines grew very long.\par

⁷ Then another eagle with big wings\par saw the grapevine.\par The eagle had many feathers.\par The grapevine wanted this new eagle\par to care for it.\par So it made its roots grow toward this eagle.\par Its branches stretched toward this eagle.\par The branches grew away from the field\par that it was planted in.\par The grapevine wanted the new eagle\par to water it.\par

⁸ The grapevine was planted in a good field.\par It was planted near plenty of water.\par It could have grown branches and fruit.\par It could have become a very good grapevine.”\par

⁹ The Lord my Master said these things.\par “Do you think that plant will succeed?\par No! The new eagle will pull the plant\par from the ground.\par And the bird will break the plant’s roots.\par It will eat up all the grapes.\par Then the new leaves will wilt.\par That plant will be very weak.\par It won’t take strong arms\par or a powerful nation\par to pull that plant up by the roots.\par

¹⁰ Will the plant grow where it is planted?\par No! The hot east wind will blow\par and the plant will become dry and die.\par It will die there where it was planted.”\par

¹¹ The word of the Lord came to me. He said,

¹² “Explain this story to the people \{of Israel\}—they always turn against me. Tell them these things: The first eagle is \{Nebuchadnezzar\}, the king of Babylonia. He came to Jerusalem and took away the king and other leaders. He brought them to Babylonia.

¹³ Then Nebuchadnezzar made an agreement with a man from the king’s family. Nebuchadnezzar forced that man to make a promise. So this man promised to be loyal to Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar made this man the new king of Judah. Then he took all the powerful men away from Judah.

¹⁴ So Judah became a weak kingdom that could not turn against King Nebuchadnezzar. The people were forced to keep the agreement Nebuchadnezzar made with the new king of Judah.

¹⁵ But this new king tried to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar anyway! He sent messengers to Egypt to ask for help. The new king asked for many horses and soldiers. Now, do you think the new king of Judah will succeed? Do you think the new king will have enough power to break the agreement and escape punishment?”

¹⁶ The Lord my Master says, “By my life, I promise this new king will die in Babylonia! Nebuchadnezzar made this man the new king of Judah. But this man broke his promise with Nebuchadnezzar. This new king ignored that agreement.

¹⁷ And the king of Egypt won’t be able to save the king of Judah. He might send many soldiers, but Egypt’s great power won’t save Judah. Nebuchadnezzar’s army will build dirt roads and dirt walls to capture the city. Many people will die.

¹⁸ But the king of Judah won’t escape. Why? Because he ignored his agreement. He broke his promise to Nebuchadnezzar.

¹⁹ The Lord my Master makes this promise: “By my life, I swear that I will punish the king of Judah. Why? Because he ignored my warnings. He broke our agreement.

²⁰ I will set my trap, and he will be caught in it. And I will bring him to Babylon and I will punish him in that place. I will punish him because he turned against me.

²¹ And I will destroy his army. I will destroy his best soldiers. And I will scatter the survivors to the winds. Then you will know that I am the Lord and that I told you these things.”

²² The Lord my Master said these things:

²³ I myself will plant it\par on a high mountain in Israel.\par That branch will grow into a tree.\par It will grow branches and make fruit.\par It will become a beautiful cedar tree.\par Many birds will sit on its branches.\par Many birds will live in the shadows\par under its branches.\par

²⁴ “Then the other trees will know that\par I make tall trees fall to the ground,\par and I make small trees grow tall.\par I make green trees become dry,\par and I make dry trees become green.\par I am the Lord.\par If I say that I will do something,\par then I will do it!”\par