Two Eagles and a Vine
1A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 2“Son of man, tell the people of Israel a story about their kings. Let them know what will happen to them. 3Tell them, ‘The Lord and King says, “A great eagle came to the city of ‘Lebanon.’ It had powerful wings and a lot of long feathers. The feathers were colorful and beautiful. The eagle landed in the top of a cedar tree. 4It broke off the highest twig. The eagle carried it away to the land of Babylon. There are many traders in that land. The eagle planted the twig in the city of Babylon.
5“ ‘ “Then it took from the land a seed that had just sprouted. It put it in rich soil near plenty of water. It planted the seed like a willow tree. 6The seed grew into a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward the eagle. And its roots remained under the eagle. So the seed became a vine. It produced branches and put out leaves.
7“ ‘ “But there was another great eagle. It also had powerful wings and a lot of feathers. The vine now sent out its roots toward that eagle. It sent them out from the place where it was planted. And it reached out its branches to the eagle for water. 8The seed had been planted in good soil near plenty of water. Then it could produce branches and bear fruit. It could become a beautiful vine.” ’
9“Ezekiel, tell the Israelites, ‘The Lord and King asks, “Will the vine grow? Won’t it be pulled up by its roots? Won’t all its fruit be stripped off? Won’t it dry up? All its new growth will dry up. It will not take a strong arm or many people to pull it up. 10It has been planted, but will it grow? No. It will dry up completely when the east wind strikes it. It will dry up in the place where it grew.” ’ ”
11A message from the Lord came to me. The Lord said, 12“These people refuse to obey me. Ask them, ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ Tell them, ‘Nebuchadnezzar went to Jerusalem. He was the king of Babylon. He carried off King Jehoiachin and the nobles. He brought them back with him to the city of Babylon. 13Then Nebuchadnezzar made a peace treaty with Zedekiah. He was a member of Jerusalem’s royal family. Nebuchadnezzar made him promise he would keep the treaty. He also took away the leading men of the land as prisoners. 14He did it to bring down their kingdom. It would not rise again. In fact, it would be able to last only by keeping his treaty. 15But Zedekiah turned against him. He sent messengers to Egypt. They went there to get horses and a large army. Will he succeed? Will he who does things like that escape? Can he break the peace treaty and still escape?
16“ ‘Zedekiah will die in Babylon,’ announces the Lord and King. ‘And that is just as sure as I am alive. He will die in the land of King Nebuchadnezzar, who put him on the throne. Zedekiah didn’t keep his promise to Nebuchadnezzar and broke his treaty. 17So Nebuchadnezzar will build ramps against the walls of Jerusalem. He will set up war machines to destroy many lives. Pharaoh will not be able to help Zedekiah during the war. The huge and mighty army of Egypt will not be of any help. 18Zedekiah didn’t keep his promise to Nebuchadnezzar and broke his treaty. Zedekiah had made a firm promise to keep it. But he broke it anyway. So he will not escape.
19“ ‘The Lord and King says, “Zedekiah didn’t keep the promise he made in my name. He broke the treaty. So I will pay him back. And that is just as sure as I am alive. 20I will spread out my net to catch him. He will be caught in my trap. I will bring him to Babylon. I will judge him there because he was not faithful to me. 21All Zedekiah’s best troops will be killed by swords. Those who are left alive will be scattered to the winds. Then you will know that I have spoken. I am the Lord.”
22“ ‘The Lord and King says, “I myself will get a twig from the very top of a cedar tree and plant it. I will break off the highest twig. I will plant it on a very high mountain. 23I will plant it on the high mountains of Israel. It will produce branches and bear fruit. It will become a beautiful cedar tree. All kinds of birds will make their nests in it. They will live in the shade of its branches. 24All the trees in the forest will know that I bring down tall trees. I make short trees grow tall. I dry up green trees. And I make dry trees green.”
“ ‘I have spoken. I will do this. I am the Lord.’ ”
Billedtale om vinstokken og ørnene
1Herren sagde til mig: 2„Du menneske, fortæl følgende gåde til Israels folk. Du skal sige til dem: Hør Herrens ord:
3-4En stor ørn med et vældigt vingefang og mange farver i sin fjerdragt kom til Libanon. Den plukkede det øverste skud fra det højeste cedertræ og bragte det til den travle by i den store handelsnation.17,3-4 „Libanon” er en henvisning til Judas kongers stolthed „Libanonskovhallen”, som nævnes i 1.Kong. 7. Det var bygget af cedertræ og udgjorde det største hus i Salomons pragtfulde paladskompleks. Det øverste skud på den kongelige stamme var kong Jojakin, der blev ført til Babylon af ørnen, kong Nebukadnezar. 5Derefter tog ørnen et af landets egne frø og plantede det i frugtbar jord, hvor der var rigeligt med vand. 6Frøet spirede og voksede til en forgrenet, lavstammet vinstok med mange sideskud og blade. Grenene voksede op mod ørnen, og rødderne strakte sig hen imod den.
7Men så kom der en anden stor ørn med vældigt vingefang og flot fjerdragt, og vinstokken strakte nu både rødder og grene imod den nye ørn, for den ville gerne have endnu mere vand. 8Men den var allerede plantet i god jord og havde rigeligt med vand, så den kunne skyde grene, sætte frugt og blive en frodig vinstok.
9Nu spørger Herren: Vil det lykkes? Mon ikke snarere dens rødder bliver rykket op? Mon ikke frugten tørrer ind, og de friske skud visner? Der skal ikke megen styrke til at rykke den op med rode. 10Vinstokken fik en lovende start, men mon den vil overleve? Vil den ikke visne, hvor den står, når østenvinden blæser imod den?”
11Derefter sagde Herren til mig: 12-13„Sig til mit oprørske folk: Forstår I, hvad gåden betyder? Lad mig forklare den: Nebukadnezar kom til Jerusalem og førte kongen og de øverste ledere i eksil i Babylon. Derefter indsatte han et medlem af den kongelige familie som konge og aftalte med ham, at han skulle være underlagt Babylons herredømme. Resten af Israels ledere tog han med til Babylon, 14så landet ikke skulle komme til kræfter og gøre oprør, men overholde fredsaftalen og have et vist selvstyre.
15Men den nye konge brød sit løfte om troskab og gjorde oprør imod Nebukadnezar. Han sendte bud til Egypten og bad om soldater og stridsvogne. Men vil hans planer lykkes? Mon han slipper godt fra at bryde sit troskabsløfte? 16Nej, så sandt jeg lever, siger Herren: Han kommer til at dø i Babylon, for han brød fredsaftalen og gjorde oprør mod den, der havde indsat ham som konge. 17Farao og hele hans mægtige hær kan ikke redde ham, når Nebukadnezar vender tilbage og belejrer Jerusalem og slår en masse mennesker ihjel. 18Zidkija brød sin ed og løftet om troskab, og det slipper han ikke godt fra.
19Så sandt jeg lever, siger Herren, skal han bøde for at have brudt den højtidelige ed, han aflagde i mit navn. 20Jeg kaster mit net over ham, så han bliver fanget i fælden, og derefter fører jeg ham til Babylon, hvor han vil blive straffet for sit oprør imod mig. 21Alle hans bedste krigere vil falde i kamp, og de som overlever, bliver spredt for alle vinde. Så vil I forstå, at jeg er Herren, og at jeg har talt.”
Løftet om en fremtidig Messias
22-23Herren fortsatte: „Jeg vil tage et skud fra cedertræets øverste top og plante det på toppen af Israels vigtigste bjerg. Det vil vokse op og blive et flot cedertræ, der skyder grene og sætter frø. Alverdens fugle vil komme for at bygge rede i dets skyggefulde grene. 24Da vil alle skovens træer forstå, at jeg, Herren, skærer de høje, stolte træer ned og giver de lave træer ære og værdighed. De vil forstå, at jeg har magt til at få et grønt træ til at visne og et udtørret træ til at blomstre. Jeg, Herren, har talt, og det vil ske, som jeg har sagt.”
