1. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said,
2. “Son of man, I have a story with a hidden meaning for you to tell the family of Israel.
3. Tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: “‘A large eagle with big wings came to Lebanon. He had feathers covered with spots.
4. He broke the top out of that big cedar tree and brought it to Canaan. He set the branch down in a city of merchants.
5. Then the eagle took some of the seeds from Canaan. He planted them in good soil by a good river.
6. The seeds grew and became a grapevine. It was a good vine. The vine was not tall, but it spread to cover a large area. The vine grew stems, and smaller vines grew very long.
7. Then another eagle with big wings saw the grapevine. The eagle had many feathers. The grapevine wanted this new eagle to care for it. So it stretched its roots and branches toward the eagle. Its branches stretched toward this eagle. The branches grew away from the field where it was planted. The grapevine wanted the new eagle to water it.
8. The grapevine was planted in a good field near plenty of water. It could have grown branches and fruit. It could have become a very good grapevine.’”
9. This is what the Lord GOD says: “Do you think that plant will succeed? No, the new eagle will pull the plant from the ground, and the bird will break the plant’s roots. It will eat up all the grapes. Then the new leaves will wilt. That plant will be very weak. It will not take strong arms or a powerful nation to pull that plant up by the roots.