(Matthew 13:24–30)
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And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,
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“Son of man, put forth a riddle, and use an allegory to the house of Israel,
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and you have said, Thus said Lord YHWH: The great eagle, great-winged, long-pinioned, || Full of feathers, that has diverse colors, || Has come to Lebanon, || And he takes the foliage of the cedar,
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He has cropped the top of its tender twigs, || And he brings it to the land of Canaan. He has placed it in a city of merchants.
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And he takes of the seed of the land, || And puts it in a field of seed, || He took [it] by many waters, || He has set it in a conspicuous place.
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And it springs up, and becomes a spreading vine, humble of stature, || To turn its thin shoots toward itself, || And its roots are under it, || And it becomes a vine, and makes boughs, || And sends forth beautiful branches.
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And there is another great eagle, || Great-winged, and abounding with feathers, || And behold, this vine has bent its roots toward him, || And it has sent out its thin shoots toward him, || To water it from the furrows of its planting,
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On a good field, by many waters, it is planted, to make branches, and to bear fruit, to be for a good vine.
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Say, Thus said Lord YHWH: It prospers—does he not draw out its roots, || And cut off its fruit, and it is withered? [In] all the leaves of its springing it withers, || And not by great strength, or by numerous people, || To lift it up by its roots.
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And behold, the planted thing—does it prosper? When the east wind comes against it, does it not utterly wither? On the furrows of its springing it withers.”
The Parable Explained
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And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,
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“Now say to the house of rebellion, || Have you not known what these [are]? Say, Behold, the king of Babylon has come to Jerusalem, || And he takes its king, and its princes, || And brings them to himself to Babylon.
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And he takes of the seed of the kingdom, || And makes a covenant with him, || And brings him into an oath, || And he has taken the mighty of the land,
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That the kingdom may be humble, || That it may not lift itself up, || To keep his covenant—that it may stand.
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And he rebels against him, || To send his messengers to Egypt, || To give to him horses, and many people, || Does he prosper? Does he who is doing these things escape? And has he broken covenant and escaped?
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[As] I live—a declaration of Lord YHWH, || Does he not—in the place of the king who is causing him to reign, || Whose oath he has despised, || And whose covenant he has broken—die with him in the midst of Babylon?
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And not with a great force, and with a numerous assembly, || Does Pharaoh maintain him in battle, || By pouring out a mound, and in building a fortification, || To cut off many souls.
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And he despised the oath—to break covenant, || And behold, he has given his hand, || And all these he has done—he does not escape.
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Therefore, thus said Lord YHWH: [As] I live—My oath that he has despised, || And My covenant that he has broken, || Have I not put it on his head?
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And I have spread out My snare for him, || And he has been caught in My net, || And I have brought him to Babylon, || And judged him there [for the] trespass || That he has trespassed against Me.
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And all his fugitives, with all his bands, || Fall by sword, and those remaining, || They are spread out to every wind, || And you have known that I, YHWH, have spoken.
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Thus said Lord YHWH: I have taken of the foliage of the high cedar, || And I have set [it], || I crop a tender one from the top of its tender shoots, || And I have planted [it] on a high and lofty mountain.
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In a mountain—the high place of Israel, I plant it, || And it has borne boughs, and yielded fruit, || And become a good cedar, || And every bird of every [kind of] wing has dwelt under it, || They dwell in the shade of its thin shoots.
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And all trees of the field have known || That I, YHWH, have made the high tree low, || I have set the low tree on high, || I have dried up the moist tree, || And I have caused the dry tree to flourish, || I, YHWH, have spoken, and have done [it]!”
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