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

1And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying, 2Son of man, propose an enigma and use a parable to the house of Israel; 3And say, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: The great eagle great of wings, long of the wing-feather, full of feathers, which to him variegation, came to Lebanon, and he will take the foliage of the cedar. 4He plucked off the head of the suckers, and he will bring it to the land of Canaan, and he set it in a city of merchants. 5And he will take from the seed of the land, and he will give it in a field of seed; he took it to many waters, he set it a willow. 6And it will spring up, and it will be for a spreading vine low of stature, for its branches turning towards him, and its roots will be under him: and it will be for a vine, and it will make branches, and it will send forth foliage.

7And there will be one great eagle, great of wings, and many feathers: and behold, this vine turned her roots to him, and sent forth her branches to him, to water it from the ascendings of its planting. 8In a good field by many waters it was planted, to make branches to bear fruit, to be for a great vine. 9Say, Thus said the Lord Jehovah: Shall it prosper? shall he not pluck up its roots, and cut off its fruit, and dry up all the fresh foliage of its springing up? It shall be dried up, and not in its great strength, and by much people to lift it up from its roots. 10And behold, being planted, shall it prosper? as the east wind strikes upon it? drying up, shall it not be dried up? it shall be dried up upon the risings of its springing up.

The Parable Explained

11And the word of Jehovah will be to me, saying, 12Say now to the house of contradiction, Knew ye not what are these? Say, Behold, the king of Babel coming to Jerusalem, and he will take her king and her chiefs, and bring them to him into Babel. 13And he will take from the seed of the kingdom and cut out with him a covenant, and he will bring him in with an oath, and he took the mighty of the land: 14To be a low kingdom, not to be lifted up, to watch his covenant to stand to it. 15And he will rebel against him to send his messengers to Egypt, to give to him horses and much people. Shall he prosper? shall he doing these, escape? and breaking the covenant, and escaping? 16I live, says the Lord Jehovah, if not in the place the king making him king which he despised his oath, and which he broke his covenant with him, in the midst of Babel he shall die. 17And not with great strength and with a great convocation, shall Pharaoh do for him in the war by throwing up a mound and by building a watchtower to cut off many souls? 18And he despised the oath to break the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand, and doing all these he shall not escape. 19For this, thus said the Lord Jehovah: I live, if not mine oath which he despised, and my covenant which he brake, and I gave it upon his head. 20And I spread my net upon him and he was taken in my net, and I brought him to Babel, and I contended with him there for his transgression which he transgressed against me. 21And all his flight with all his hosts, they shall fall by the sword, and they being left shall be dispersed to every wind: and ye knew that I Jehovah spake.

22Thus said the Lord Jehovah: And I took from the foliage of the cedar, and I gave from the head; I will pluck its suckers a tender one, and I planted upon a mountain of height and heaped up. 23In the mountain of the height of Israel I will plant it: and it bare a branch, and it made fruit, and it was for a great cedar: and there dwelt under it all fowls of every wing; in the shadow of its branches shall they dwell. 24And all the trees of the field knew that I Jehovah brought low the tree of height, made high the low tree, I dried up the green tree, and I caused the dry tree to flourish: I Jehovah spake and I did.