1. The Lord’s word came to me:
2. Human one, compose a riddle and a parable about the house of Israel.
3. Say, The Lord God proclaims: The great eagle with great wings, long feathers, and full, colorful plumage came to Lebanon and took the top branch of the cedar.
4. He plucked a twig from the cedar’s crown, brought it to the land of traders, and set it down in a city of merchants.
5. He took a native seed and planted it in a prepared field, placing it like a willow beside plentiful water.
6. It grew and became a low-spreading vine. Its foliage turned toward him, and its roots developed under him. And so it became a vine, and it produced branches and sent out its shoots.