Ezekiel 17:12-14

Expanded Bible

¹² “Say now to the ·people who refuse to obey [^Lrebellious house]: ‘Don’t you know what these things mean?’ Say: ‘[^LLook; ^TBehold] The king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and took the king [^CJehoiachin; 2 Kin. 24:12] and ·important men [nobles; officials] of Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon. ¹³ Then he took ·a member of the family of the king of Judah [^Lfrom the royal offspring/seed; ^CZedekiah, Jehoiachin’s uncle; 2 Kin. 24:17] and made an ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with him, ·forcing him to take an [putting him under] oath. The king also took away the leaders of ·Judah [^Lthe land] ¹⁴ to ·make the kingdom weak [humble/bring low the kingdom] so it would not ·be strong [rise; exalt itself] again. Then the kingdom of Judah ·could continue only [would stand] by keeping its ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with the king of Babylon.