He plucked off its topmost shoot; he brought it to a land of merchants and planted it in a city of traders.

“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: “‘I will take a sprig ¹  from the lofty top of the cedar and plant it. ²  I will pluck from the top one of its tender twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain.

There will be some left behind, like when an olive tree is beaten – two or three ripe olives remain toward the very top, four or five on its fruitful branches,” says the Lord God of Israel.

But see how great he must be, if ¹  Abraham the patriarch gave him a tithe ²  of his plunder.