and took off the top of the cedar, (A parable-riddle).
4 He plucked the topmost of its young shoots and brought it to the land of Canaan, and laid it in the city of merchants; (A parable-riddle).
5 and he took of the seed of the land, and planted the seed on the land, and placed it by the great waters, as they plant a willow tree. (A parable-riddle).
6 And it grew, and became a vine, wide, low in stature, whose branches bent towards it, and its roots were under it, and became a vine, and gave branches, and put forth branches. (A parable-riddle).
7 And there was also an eagle with large wings and fluffy; and, behold, this vine reached out to him with its roots and stretched out its branches to him, so that he watered it from the furrows of his seedling. (A parable-riddle).
8 She was planted in a good field, by great waters, so that she could put out branches and bear fruit, and become a magnificent vine. (A parable-riddle).
9 Say, Thus saith the LORD God, Will she succeed? Will not its roots be torn out, and will not its fruits be torn off, so that it withers? all the young branches that have grown from it will wither. And not with great force and not with many people will they pluck it from its roots. (A parable-riddle).
10 And behold, though she is planted, will there be success? Will it dry up as soon as the east wind touches it? it will dry up on the ridges where it grew up. (A parable-riddle).
11 And the word of the LORD came to me: (Suggestion by words).
12 Tell the rebellious house: Don’t you know what this means?«Say, Behold, the king of Babylon came to Jerusalem, and took his king and his princes, and brought them to him to Babylon. (The Babylonian invasion of Jerusalem, the capture of the Jewish king and his entourage).
13 And he took [another] from the royal family, and made an alliance with him, and bound him by an oath, and took the strong of that land with him, (The Babylonian king planted his puppet in Jerusalem, the nobility was taken to Babylonia-Chaldea. The 4th Book of Kings, 24:17 «And the king of Babylon reigned Matthias, the uncle of [Jehonia], instead of him, and changed his name to Zedekiah,» the new king of Judea is a protege of Babylon, the change of the king’s name meant a change of cult, ideology).
14 that the kingdom may be submissive, that it may not rise, that we may keep the union and stand firm. (The main thing for the Babylonians is that Judea should be a submissive country).
15 But he rebelled against him, sending his messengers to Egypt to give him horses and many men. Will he succeed? Will the one who does it survive? Has he broken the alliance and will he survive? (King Zedekiah of Judah contacted the king of Egypt. The 4th Book of Kings, chapter 24, «19 And he did evil in the sight of the LORD in all things as Joachim did.» The king did not support Yahweh’s priests. «20 The wrath of the LORD was upon Jerusalem and upon Judah, to the extent that he rejected them from his presence. And Zedekiah was rebelled against the king of Babylon.» The king of Judah ceased to obey Babylon).
16 I live, says the LORD God, in the abode of the king who made him king, and to whom he has despised his oath, and has broken his covenant with him, he will die with him in Babylon. (God lives in Jerusalem, on Mount Zion).
17 With great power and with a large people, Pharaoh will do nothing for him in this war, when the rampart will be built and siege towers will be built for the destruction of many souls. (The Egyptians did not support the Jews, Jerusalem was under siege).
18 He despised the oath to break the covenant, and behold, he gave his hand and did all these things; he will not survive. (Zedekiah found himself in a difficult position.)
19 Therefore thus saith the LORD God: I live! My oath, which he has despised, and My union, which he has broken, I will turn on his head. (Due to the fact that Zedekiah did not support the priests of Judaism, he lost).
20 And I will cast my net upon him, and he will be caught in my snare; and I will bring him to Babylon, and there I will sue him for his treachery against me. (4 Kings, chapter 25, «5 And the army of the Chaldeans pursued the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho, and all his army fled from him.» Arrest of the tsar. «6 And they took the king, and brought him to the king of Babylon at Riblah, and judged him, «The judgment of Zedekiah. «7 And the sons of Zedekiah were slaughtered before his eyes, but [himself] Zedekiah blinded his eyes and bound him with fetters, and took him to Babylon.» The «princes of the blood» were killed, the king himself was blinded and taken to Babylon in chains).
21 But all his fugitives from all his regiments will fall by the sword, and the rest will be scattered to all winds; and you will know that I, the LORD, have said this. (And all, they say, because they stopped honoring the «right» god).
22 Thus saith the LORD God: And I will take from the top of a tall cedar, and plant it; from its upper shoots I will tear off a tender branch, and plant it on a high and majestic mountain. (Analogy with the eagle and cedar from Lebanon).
23 I will plant it on the high mountain of Israel, and it will put forth branches, and bring forth fruit, and it will become a majestic cedar, and all kinds of birds will dwell under it, all kinds of birds will dwell in the shade of its branches. (Analogy with the eagle and cedar from Lebanon).
24 And all the trees of the field will know that I, the LORD, am lowering a tall tree, raising a low tree, drying up a green tree, and making a dry tree flourish: I, the LORD, have said, and I will do it. (Analogy with the eagle and cedar from Lebanon).
Chapter 18
1 And the word of the LORD came to me: (Hypnotist’s voice).
2 Why do you use this proverb in the land of Israel, saying, «The fathers ate sour grapes, but the children’s teeth are set on edge»? (Using a quote from Jeremiah: 31:29 In those days, it will no longer be said: «the fathers ate sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge»; a happy life for the people as a whole in the indefinite distant future was little consolation for an individual Jew, a contemporary of Ezekiel).
3 I Live! Says the Lord God, – they will not speak this proverb in Israel. (The Jewish priesthood does not benefit from this proverb, since it rejects «sinful» Jews, since, they say, they bear the constant «seal of sin»).
4 For behold, all souls are mine: both the soul of the father and the soul of the son are Mine: the soul that sins will die. (Everything, they say, depends on Yahweh).
5 If anyone is righteous and does justice and righteousness, (the righteous who observe all the ordinances of the priesthood).
6 He does not eat on the mountains of sacrifice, and does not turn his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, and does not approach his wife during the purification of her uncleanness (the righteous who observe all the ordinances of the priesthood).
7 he oppresses no one, returns his pledge to the debtor, does not commit embezzlement, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, (The righteous who observe all the ordinances of the priesthood).
8 he does not give up and does not take interest, he keeps his hand from unrighteousness, he makes a right judgment to man with man, (The righteous who observe all the ordinances of the priesthood).
9 He acts according to my commandments and keeps my
