3 (NIV) Say to them, ÔThis
is what the Sovereign LORD says: A great
eagle with powerful wings, long feathers and full
plumage of varied colors came to Lebanon. Taking
hold of the top of a cedar, 4 he broke off its topmost shoot and carried it away to a land of merchants, where he planted it in a city of traders. 5
He took some of the seed of your land and put it in fertile
soil. He planted it like a willow by abundant water, 6
and it sprouted and became a low, spreading vine. Its branches turned toward him, but its roots remained under it. So it became a vine and produced branches and put out leafy boughsÉÕ