The Parable of Two Eagles and a Vine
(Matthew 13:24–30)

1And the word of YHWH came to me, saying: 2“Son of man, pose a riddle and present a parable to the house of Israel, 3and say, thus says the Lord YHWH:

‘A great eagle, great of wings and long of pinions,†

full of feathers that are unto it of many colors,

came to Lebanon,

and took from the treetop of the cedar.

4The topmost of its shoots he plucked off

and he brought it in to a land of trade.

In a city of merchants he set it.

5And he took from the seed of the land,

and he put it it in a field of seed;

he took it next to abundant waters;

as a willow tree he set it.

6And it grew and became a spreading vine,

low of height, turning its branches toward him,

and its roots were under it,

and it became as a vine and made branches

and sent out shoots.

7And there was one great eagle,

great of wings and abundant of feathers,

and behold, this vine bent its roots toward him,

and its branches it stretched out toward him,

to water it from the beds of its planting.

8In a good field, next to many waters,

it was planted,

to make branches and to bear fruit,

to become as a vine of magnificence.’

9Say, thus says the Lord YHWH:

‘Will it prosper?

Will he not its roots pull up and strip off its fruit,

so it withers—

all of the fresh sproutings of its branch wither?

And not a great arm or many people

to lift it up by its roots.

10And behold, being planted,

will it prosper?

At the touching of it by the wind from the east, Will it not it will completely wither—

will it wither on the beds of its planting?’”

The Parable Explained

11And the word of YHWH came to me, saying: 12“Say now to the house of rebellion, ‘Do you⁺ not know what these are?’

Say, ‘Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and he took her king and her princes, and he brought them with him to Babylon. 13And he took from the seed of the king, and he cut with him a covenant, and he brought him in under oath—for the mighty ones of the land he had taken away— 14that the kingdom would be brought low and not lift itself up by keeping his covenant that it may stand.

15And he rebelled against him by sending his messengers to Egypt, to give to him horses and many people. Will he prosper? Will he escape, the one doing these things? And can he break a covenant, and escape?’

16‘As I live,’ a declaration of the Lord YHWH, ‘Will he not—in the place of the king causing him to reign, of whom his oath he despised, and of whom his covenant he broke with him—die in the midst of Babylon. 17And not with his mighty army and his great assembly, will Pharaoh maintain him in the war, in the piling up of a siege mound, and with the building of a wall, to cut off many souls. 18And he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand, and all these things he did—he will not escape!’

19Therefore, thus says the Lord YHWH: ‘As I live, surely My oath that he despised, and My covenant that he broke, will I not recompense upon his head? 20And I will spread over him My net, and he will be captured in My snare; and I will bring him to Babylon, and I will execute judgment upon him there for the unfaithfulness with which he was unfaithful against Me. 21And all his choice troops† will fall by the sword, and those remaining will be scattered to every wind! And you⁺ will know that I, YHWH, have spoken.’

22Thus says the Lord YHWH:

‘I will take from the treetop of the highest cedar,

and I will set it out;

from the topmost of its shoots, a tender one I will pluck off,

and I will plant it on a mountain high and exalted.

23On a mountain in the height of Israel I will plant it,

and it will bear boughs

and it will yield fruit,

and it will be majestic as a cedar;

and will dwell under it every bird of every wing;

in the shade of its branches they will dwell.

24And all the trees of the field will know

that I, YHWH,

have brought low the high tree,

and have raised high the low tree;

I dried up the green tree

and I made bud the dry tree.

I, YHWH, have spoken,

and I have done it.’”