¹ And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² Son of man, put forth a riddle, and speak a parable to the house of Israel;

³ And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, long-winged, full of feathers, which had divers colors, came to Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar:

⁴ He cropped off the top of its young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.

⁵ He took also of the seed of the land, and planted it in a fruitful field; he placed it by great waters, and set it as a willow tree.

⁶ And it grew, and became a spreading vine of low stature, whose branches turned towards him, and its roots were under him: so it became a vine, and brought forth branches, and shot forth sprigs.

⁷ There was also another great eagle with great wings and many feathers: and behold, this vine did bend her roots towards him, and shot forth her branches towards him, that he might water it by the furrows of her plantation.

⁸ It was planted in a good soil by great waters, that it might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit, that it might be a goodly vine.

⁹ Say thou, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Shall it prosper? shall he not pull up its roots, and cut off its fruit, that it may wither? it shall wither in all the leaves of her spring, even without great power or many people to pluck it up by its roots.

¹⁰ Yes, behold, being planted, shall it prosper? shall it not utterly wither, when the east wind toucheth it? it shall wither in the furrows where it grew.

¹¹ Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

¹² Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon hath come to Jerusalem, and hath taken its king, and its princes, and led them with him to Babylon;

¹³ And hath taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him, and hath taken an oath from him: he hath also taken the mighty of the land:

¹⁴ That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up, but that by keeping his covenant it might stand.

¹⁵ But he rebelled against him in sending his embassadors into Egypt, that they might give him horses and many people. Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the covenant, and be delivered?

¹⁶ As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant he broke, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.

¹⁷ Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut off many persons:

¹⁸ Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when lo, he had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not escape.

¹⁹ Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely my oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even that will I recompense upon his own head.

²⁰ And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.

²¹ And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword, and they that remain shall be scattered towards all winds: and ye shall know that I the LORD have spoken it.

²² Thus saith the Lord GOD, I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of its young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon a high mountain and eminent:

²³ In the mountain of the hight of Israel will I plant it: and it shall bring forth boughs, and bear fruit, and be a goodly cedar: and under it shall dwell all fowl of every wing; in the shade of its branches shall they dwell.

²⁴ And all the trees of the field shall know that I the LORD have brought down the high tree, have exalted the low tree, have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to flourish: I the LORD have spoken and have done it.

¹ Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again to thy brother.

² And if thy brother shall not be nigh to thee, or if thou shalt not know him, then thou shalt bring it to thy own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother shall seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again.

³ In like manner shalt thou do with his ass; and so shalt thou do with his raiment; and with all lost things of thy brother's, which he hath lost, and thou hast found, shalt thou do likewise: thou mayest not hide thyself.

⁴ Thou shalt not see thy brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt surely help him to lift them up again.

⁵ A woman shall not wear that which pertaineth to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so are abomination to the LORD thy God.

⁶ If a bird's nest shall chance to be before thee in the way on any tree, or on the ground, whether with young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young:

⁷ But thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee; that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days.

⁸ When thou buildest a new house, then thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou mayest not bring blood upon thy house, if any man shall fall from thence.

⁹ Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, should be defiled.

¹⁰ Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together.

¹¹ Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together.

¹² Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four quarters of thy vesture, with which thou coverest thyself.

¹³ If any man shall take a wife, and go in to her, and hate her,

¹⁴ And give occasions of speech against her, and bring an evil name upon her, and say, I took this woman, and when I came to her, I found her not a maid:

¹⁵ Then shall the father of the damsel, and her mother, take and bring forth the tokens of the damsel's virginity to the elders of the city in the gate:

¹⁶ And the damsel's father shall say to the elders, I gave my daughter to this man for a wife, and he hateth her,

¹⁷ And lo, he hath given occasions of speech against her, saying, I found not thy daughter a maid; and yet these are the tokens of my daughter's virginity. And they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city.

¹⁸ And the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him;

¹⁹ And they shall amerce him in a hundred shekels of silver, and give them to the father of the damsel, because he hath brought an evil name upon a virgin of Israel: and she shall be his wife; he may not put her away all his days.

²⁰ But if this thing shall be true, and the tokens of virginity be not found for the damsel:

²¹ Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house, and the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she may die: because she hath wrought folly in Israel, to be guilty of lewdness in her father's house: so shalt thou remove evil from among you.

²² If a man shall be found lying with a woman married to a husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman: so shalt thou remove evil from Israel.

²³ If a damsel that is a virgin shall be betrothed to a husband, and a man shall find her in the city, and lie with her;

²⁴ Then ye shall bring them both out to the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they may die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbor's wife: so thou shalt remove evil from among you.

²⁵ But if a man shall find a betrothed damsel in the field, and the man shall force her, and lie with her; then the man only that lay with her shall die:

²⁶ But to the damsel thou shalt do nothing; there is in the damsel no sin worthy of death: for as when a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter:

²⁷ For he found her in the field, and the betrothed damsel cried, and there was none to save her.

²⁸ If a man shall find a damsel that is a virgin, who is not betrothed, and lay hold on her, and lie with her, and they be found;

²⁹ Then the man that lay with her shall give to the damsel's father fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife; because he hath humbled her, he may not put her away all his days.

³⁰ A man shall not take his father's wife, nor discover his father's skirt.