\v 9 Say to the people, 'The Lord Yahweh says this: Will it prosper?
\q Will he not pull up its roots and pluck out its fruit so all of its growth of leaves will wither away?
\q No strong arm or multitudes of people will sprout up from its roots.
\q
\v 10 So behold! After it has been planted, will it grow? Will it not wither when the eastern wind touches it?
\q It will completely wither away in its plot.'"
\s5
\p
\v 11 Then the word of Yahweh came to me and said,
\v 12 "Speak to the rebellious house, 'Do you not know what these things mean? Behold! The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took her king and her princes and brought them to him in Babylon.
\s5
\v 13 Then he took a royal descendant, made a covenant with him, and brought him under an oath. And he took away the powerful people of the land,
\v 14 so the kingdom might become lowly and not lift itself up. By keeping his covenant the land will survive.
\s5
\v 15 But the king of Jerusalem rebelled against him by sending his ambassadors to Egypt to acquire horses and an army. Will he succeed? Will the one doing these things escape? If he violates the covenant, will he escape?
\v 16 As I live!—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration—he will surely die in the land of the king who made him king, the king whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke. He will die in the middle of Babylon.
\v 17 And Pharaoh with his mighty army and assembling of many men for war will not protect him in battle, when the Babylonian army builds siege mounds and siege walls to destroy many lives.
\v 18 For the king has despised his oath by breaking the covenant. Behold, he reached out with his hand to promise, but he has done all these things. He will not escape.
\v 19 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: As I live, was it not my oath that he despised and my covenant that he broke? So I will bring his punishment on his head!
\v 20 I will spread my net out over him, and he will be caught in my hunting net. Then I will bring him to Babylon and execute judgment on him there for his treason that he committed when he betrayed me!
\v 21 And all of his refugees in his armies will fall by the sword, and the ones who remain will be scattered in every direction. Then you will know that I am Yahweh; I have declared this would happen."
\v 22 The Lord Yahweh says this, 'So I myself will take away the highest part of the cedar tree, and I will plant it away from its tender branches. I will break it off, and I myself will plant it on a high mountain.
\v 23 I will plant it on the mountains of Israel so it will bear branches and produce fruit, and it will become a majestic cedar so that every winged bird will live under it. They will nest in the shade of its branches.
\v 24 Then all the trees of the field will know that I am Yahweh. I bring down the high trees and I raise up the low trees. I wither the watered tree and I cause the dried tree to bloom. I am Yahweh, I have declared that this will happen; and I have done it.'"