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Venerdi, 29 marzo 2024 - Santi Simplicio e Costantino ( Letture di oggi)

Ezekiel 17


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1The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as follows,2'Son of man, put a riddle, propound a parable to the House of Israel.3Say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: A great eagle with great wings, long-pinioned, rich with many-coloured plumage, came to the Lebanon.4He took the top of the cedar tree, he plucked off the top branch, he carried it off to the country ofmerchants and set it down in a city of shopkeepers.5Next, he took one of the country's seeds and put it in a fertile field; by the side of a generous stream,like a wil ow tree, he placed it.6It grew and became a fruitful vine of modest size, grew up towards the eagle, its roots grewdownwards. So it became a vine, branching out and sprouting new shoots.7But there was another great eagle with great wings and thick plumage. And now the vine twisted itsroots towards him and stretched its branches towards him, for him to water it away from the bed where it wasplanted.8It was in a fertile field, by the side of a wide stream that the vine had been planted, to branch out andbear fruit and become a noble vine."9Say, "The Lord Yahweh says this: Will it succeed? Wil the eagle not tear out its roots and strip off itsfruit, so that al the new leaves it puts out wil wither, and no great strength is needed nor many people to pul itup by the roots?10Planted it may be -- wil it succeed? Wil it not shrivel up when the east wind blows? It wil wither inthe bed where it was growing!" '11The word of Yahweh was addressed to me as fol ows:12'Say to that tribe of rebels, "Do you not know what this means?" Say this, 'Look, the king of Babyloncame to Jerusalem; he carried away the king and the princes, and took them to his home in Babylon.13He took a member of the royal family and made a treaty with him, forcing him to swear loyalty, havingalready deported the leading men of the country,14so that the kingdom would remain modest and without ambitions, and would keep and honour histreaty.15But the prince rebelled against him and sent envoys to Egypt to procure himself horses and a largenumber of troops. Wil he succeed? Wil a man who has done this go unpunished? Can he break a treaty and gounpunished?16As I live, I swear it -- declares the Lord Yahweh -- in Babylon, in the country of the king who put himon the throne, whose oath he has disregarded and whose treaty he has broken, there he will die.17Despite the pharaoh's great army and hordes of men, he wil not be able to save him by fighting,however many earthworks are raised, however many trenches dug to the loss of many lives.18He has disregarded the oath by breaking the treaty to which he had pledged himself and, havingdone al this, wil not go unpunished.19"So, the Lord Yahweh says this: As I live, I swear it: my oath which he has disregarded, my treatywhich he has broken, I shall make them both recoil on his own head.20I shal throw my net over him, he wil be caught in my mesh; I shall take him to Babylon and punishhim there for being unfaithful to me.21Al the pick of al his troops wil fal by the sword, and the survivors be scattered to al the winds. Andyou wil know that I, Yahweh, have spoken.22"The Lord Yahweh says this: From the top of the tal cedar tree, from the highest branch I shal take ashoot and plant it myself on a high and lofty mountain.23I shal plant it on the highest mountain in Israel. It wil put out branches and bear fruit and grow into anoble cedar tree. Every kind of bird wil live beneath it, every kind of winged creature will rest in the shade of itsbranches.24And al the trees of the countryside wil know that I, Yahweh, am the one who lays the tal tree lowand raises the low tree high, who makes the green tree wither and makes the withered bear fruit. I, Yahweh,have spoken, and I wil do it." '