¹ “The wings of the ostrich ²  flap with joy, ³  but are they the pinions and plumage of a stork? ⁴ 

Then the priest ¹  must remove its entrails by cutting off its tail feathers, ²  and throw them ³  to the east side of the altar into the place of fatty ashes,

He rained down meat on them like dust, birds as numerous as the sand on the seashores. ¹ 

Now in that very moment ¹  this pronouncement about ²  Nebuchadnezzar came true. ³  He was driven from human society, he ate grass like oxen, and his body became damp with the dew of the sky, until his hair became long like an eagle’s feathers, and his nails like a bird’s claws. ⁴ 

Say to them: ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: ¹  “‘A great eagle ²  with broad wings, long feathers, ³  with full plumage which was multi-hued, ⁴  came to Lebanon ⁵  and took the top of the cedar.

He will shelter you ¹  with his wings; ²  you will find safety under his wings. His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. ³ 

When ¹  you lie down among the sheepfolds, ²  the wings of the dove are covered with silver and with glittering gold. ³ 

“‘There was another great eagle ¹  with broad wings and thick plumage. Now this vine twisted its roots toward him and sent its branches toward him to be watered from the soil where it was planted.

But as soon as she springs up, ¹  she laughs at the horse and its rider.

Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye! ¹  Hide me in the shadow of your wings! ² 

Like an eagle that stirs up ¹  its nest, that hovers over its young, so the Lord ²  spread out his wings and took him, ³  he lifted him up on his pinions.

So ¹  he sent another slave to them again. This one they struck on the head and treated outrageously.

I will plant it on a high mountain of Israel, and it will raise branches and produce fruit and become a beautiful cedar. Every bird will live under it; Every winged creature will live in the shade of its branches.

“As for you, son of man, this is what the sovereign Lord says: Tell every kind of bird and every wild beast: ‘Assemble and come! Gather from all around to my slaughter ¹  which I am going to make for you, a great slaughter on the mountains of Israel! You will eat flesh and drink blood.