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Will it thrive just because it was planted? Won't it wither altogether when the east wind strikes it? Yes, it will wither right there in the beds where it was growing.'"
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The word of ADONAI came to me:
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"Say to the rebellious house: 'Don't you know what these things mean?' Tell them: 'Here, the king of Bavel came to Yerushalayim, took its king and princes and brought them to himself in Bavel.
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Then he took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. He removed the powerful leaders of the land,
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so that this kingdom of his would stay humble and not develop aspirations of its own; rather, it would keep his covenant and live accordingly.
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But this man rebelled and sent representatives to Egypt, in order to obtain horses and a sizeable army. Can he succeed? Can someone who does such things escape punishment? Can he break the covenant and still escape punishment?
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"'As I live,' says Adonai ELOHIM, 'in the place where the king who gave him his throne lives, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke, there with him in Bavel I swear that he will die.
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Pharaoh with his mighty army and numerous troops will give him no help in the war, when they raise siege-works and build fortified towers to destroy many people;
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because he despised the oath by breaking the covenant to which he had sworn allegiance; having done all these things, he will not escape unpunished.'
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Therefore Adonai ELOHIM says: 'As I live, I swear that it is my oath he has despised and my covenant he has broken, and I will bring this on his own head.
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I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare; I will bring him to Bavel and bring him to judgment there for breaking faith with me.