2Ki 14:9, Eze 17:3-10, Dan 4:10-18 | ESV | STEP | And Jehoash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah , A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon , saying , Give your daughter to my son for a wife , and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle .

9 And Jehoash king of Israel sent word to Amaziah king of Judah, ^a“A thistle on Lebanon sent to a cedar on Lebanon, saying, ‘Give your daughter to my son for a wife,’ and a wild beast of Lebanon passed by and trampled down the thistle.

Ezekiel 17:3-10

3 say, Thus says the Lord God: ^bA great eagle ^cwith great wings and long pinions, ^drich in plumage of many colors, came ^eto Lebanon ^fand took the top of the cedar. 4 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. 5 Then he took of the seed of the land ^gand planted it in fertile soil. ^{▼▼Hebrew in a field of seed} He placed it beside abundant waters. ⁱHe set it like a willow twig, 6 and it sprouted and became a ^jlow ^kspreading 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.

7 ^l“And there was another great eagle with great wings and much plumage, ^mand behold, this vine bent its roots toward him and shot forth its branches toward him from ⁿthe bed where it was planted, that he might water it. 8 ^oIt had been planted on good soil by abundant waters, that it might produce branches and bear fruit and become a noble vine.

9 “Say, Thus says the Lord God: ^pWill 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. 10 Behold, it is planted; will it thrive? ^qWill it not utterly wither when the east wind strikes it—wither away on the bed where it sprouted?”

Daniel 4:10-18

10 ^rThe visions of my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, and ^sbehold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. 11 ^tThe tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. 12 ^uIts leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. ^vThe beasts of the field found shade under it, and ^wthe birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

13 “I saw in ^xthe visions of my head as I lay in bed, and behold, ^ya watcher, ^za holy one, came down from heaven. 14 He ^aaproclaimed aloud and said thus: ^ab‘Chop down the tree and ^aclop off its branches, ^adstrip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. ^aeLet the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field. Let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts in the grass of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed from a man’s, and let a beast’s mind be given to him; ^afand let seven periods of time ^agpass over him. 17 The sentence is by the decree of ^ahthe watchers, the decision by the word of ^aithe holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High ^ajrules the kingdom of men ^akand gives it to whom he will and ^alsets over it the lowliest of men.’ 18 This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, O ^amBelteshazzar, tell me the interpretation, because ^anall the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation, but you are able, for ^aothe spirit of the holy gods is in you.”