A reading from the book of Ezekiel.

The word of the Lord came to me.

Son of man propound a riddle and speak a parable to the House of Israel.

Say, thus says the Lord God, a great eagle with great wings and long pinions,

rich in plumage of many colors, came to Lebanon and took

the top of the cedar. He broke off the topmost of its young twigs and carried it to a land

of trade and set it in a city of merchants. Then he took of the seed of the land and planted it in fertile soil. He placed it beside

abundant waters. He set it like a willow twig, and it sprouted, and became a low-spreading vine,

and its branches turned toward him, and its roots remained where it stood. So it became a vine, and produced branches, and put out

boughs. And there was another great eagle, with great wings and much plumage, and behold,

this vine bent its roots toward him, and shot forth its branches toward him from the bed where it was

planted, that he might water it.

It had been planted on good soil by abundant waters that it might produce branches and bear fruit

and become a noble vine. Say, thus says the Lord God. Will it thrive? Will he not pull up its roots and cut off its fruit so that it

withers, so that all its fresh sprouting leaves wither? It will not take a strong arm or many

people to pull it from its roots. Behold, it is planted.

Will it thrive?

Will it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes it,

wither away on the bed where it sprouted?

Then the word of the Lord came to me.

Say now to the rebellious house,

do you not know what these things mean? Tell them, behold,

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