Ezekiel 17:8-18

8 It had been planted in good, well-watered soil, And it put out branches and bore fruit, and became a noble vine.
9 "'God, the Master, says, Will it thrive? Won't he just pull it up by the roots and leave the grapes to rot And the branches to shrivel up, a withered, dead vine? It won't take much strength or many hands to pull it up.
10 Even if it's transplanted, will it thrive? When the hot east wind strikes it, won't it shrivel up? Won't it dry up and blow away from the place where it was planted?'"
11 God's Message came to me:
12 "Tell this house of rebels, 'Do you get it? Do you know what this means?'
13 He took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, making him swear his loyalty. The king of Babylon took all the top leaders into exile
14 to make sure that this kingdom stayed weak - didn't get any big ideas of itself - and kept the covenant with him so that it would have a future.
15 "'But he rebelled and sent emissaries to Egypt to recruit horses and a big army. Do you think that's going to work? Are they going to get by with this? Does anyone break a covenant and get off scot-free?
16 "'As sure as I am the living God, this king who broke his pledge of loyalty and his covenant will die in that country, in Babylon.
17 Pharaoh with his big army - all those soldiers! - won't lift a finger to fight for him when Babylon sets siege to the city and kills everyone inside.
18 Because he broke his word and broke the covenant, even though he gave his solemn promise, because he went ahead and did all these things anyway, he won't escape.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.