1. The word of the Lord came to me:
2. “Son of man, set forth an allegory and tell it to the Israelites as a parable.
3. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: A great eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking hold of the top of a cedar,
4. he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders.
5. “ ‘He took one of the seedlings of the land and put it in fertile soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water,