Ezekiel 15

Jerusalem as a Useless Vine

15The word of the Lord came to me: ²“Son of man, how is the wood of a vine^s different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? ³Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful?^t Do they make pegs^u from it to hang things on? ⁴And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything?^{v 5}If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?

⁶“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. ⁷I will set my face against^w them. Although they have come out of the fire^x, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord.^{y 8}I will make the land desolate^z because they have been unfaithful,^a declares the Sovereign Lord.”