Ezekiel 17:12-24

New International Version

¹² “Say to this rebellious people, ‘Do you not know what these things mean?^(A)’ Say to them: ‘The king of Babylon went to Jerusalem and carried off her king and her nobles,^(B) bringing them back with him to Babylon.^{(C) 13} Then he took a member of the royal family and made a treaty^(D) with him, putting him under oath.^(E) He also carried away the leading men^(F) of the land, ¹⁴ so that the kingdom would be brought low,^(G) unable to rise again, surviving only by keeping his treaty. ¹⁵ But the king rebelled^(H) against him by sending his envoys to Egypt^(I) to get horses and a large army.^(J) Will he succeed? Will he who does such things escape? Will he break the treaty and yet escape?^(K)

¹⁶ “‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, he shall die^(L) in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose treaty he broke.^{(M) 17} Pharaoh^(N) with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps^(O) are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives.^{(P) 18} He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. Because he had given his hand in pledge^(Q) and yet did all these things, he shall not escape.

¹⁹ “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, I will repay him for despising my oath and breaking my covenant.^{(R) 20} I will spread my net^(S) for him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment^(T) on him there because he was unfaithful^(U) to me. ²¹ All his choice troops will fall by the sword,^(V) and the survivors^(W) will be scattered to the winds.^(X) Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken.^(Y)

²² “‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself will take a shoot^(Z) from the very top of a cedar and plant it; I will break off a tender sprig from its topmost shoots and plant it on a high and lofty mountain.^{(AA) 23} On the mountain heights^(AB) of Israel I will plant it; it will produce branches and bear fruit^(AC) and become a splendid cedar. Birds of every kind will nest in it; they will find shelter in the shade of its branches.^{(AD) 24} All the trees of the forest^(AE) will know that I the Lord bring down^(AF) the tall tree and make the low tree grow tall. I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish.^(AG)

“‘I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.^(AH)’”