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Ezekiel 15

Chapter 15

Jerusalem—a Useless Vine

Then this message came to me from the Lord: “Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine’s wood as useful as the wood of a tree? Can its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans? No, it can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too quickly. Vines are useless both before and after being put into the fire!

“And this is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Jerusalem are like grapevines growing among the trees of the forest. Since they are useless, I have thrown them on the fire to be burned. And I will see to it that if they escape from one fire, they will fall into another. When I turn against them, you will know that I am the Lord. And I will make the land desolate because my people have been unfaithful to me. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!”

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Ezekiel 15 — The New International Version (NIV)

The word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on? And 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? 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?

“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. I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord. I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Ezekiel 15 — English Standard Version (ESV)

And the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any wood, the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything! Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face against them. Though they escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, and you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 15 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, or than a branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned? Therefore thus saith the Lord God; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord God.

Ezekiel 15 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying: “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest? Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or can men make a peg from it to hang any vessel on? Instead, it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful for any work? Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for any work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

“Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will set My face against them. They will go out from one fire, but another fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them. Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 15 — New Century Version (NCV)

The Lord spoke his word to me, saying: “Human, is the wood of the vine better than the wood of any tree in the forest? Can wood be taken from the vine to make anything? Can you use it to make a peg on which to hang something? If the vine is thrown into the fire for fuel, and the fire burns up both ends and starts to burn the middle, is it useful for anything? When the vine was whole, it couldn’t be made into anything. When the fire has burned it completely, it certainly cannot be made into anything.”

So this is what the Lord God says: “Out of all the trees in the forest, I have given the wood of the vine as fuel for fire. In the same way I have given up the people who live in Jerusalem and will turn against them. Although they came through one fire, fire will still destroy them. When I turn against them, you will know that I am the Lord. So I will make the land empty, because the people have not been loyal, says the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 15 — American Standard Version (ASV)

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is the vine-tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to make any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire hath devoured both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned: is it profitable for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work! Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As the vine-tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face against them; they shall go forth from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah, when I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Ezekiel 15 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

And the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Son of man, what is the wood of the vine more than any wood, the vine-branch, which is among the trees of the forest? Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon? Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel: the fire consumeth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned; is it fit for any work? Behold, when it was whole, it was used for no work; how much less when the fire hath consumed it, and it is burned, should it yet be used for any work? Therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah: As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face against them: they shall go forth from one fire, and another fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah when I set my face against them. And I will make the land a desolation, because they have wrought unfaithfulness, saith the Lord Jehovah.

Ezekiel 15 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

The Lord spoke his word to me. He said, “Son of man, what good is the wood from a vine? Is it better than the wood from a tree in the forest? Do people use it to make something? Do they make a peg from it to hang things on? No! It is only thrown into the fire as fuel. The fire burns up both its ends and chars its middle. Then can it be used to make anything? When the vine was in perfect condition, it couldn’t be made into anything. How can it be used to make anything after the fire has burned and charred it? 

“So this is what the Almighty Lord says: As a vine is taken from among the trees in the forest to be used to feed the fire, so I will take the people who live in Jerusalem to punish them. I will turn against the people of Jerusalem. Even though they have escaped one fire, another fire will burn them. Then they will know that I am the Lord, because I will turn against them. I will turn the country into a wasteland because they have been unfaithful,” declares the Almighty Lord

Ezekiel 15 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine, that branch among the trees of the forest, compare to any other wood? Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? In fact, it is put into the fire as fuel. The fire devours both of its ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? Even when it was whole it could not be made into a useful object. How much less can it ever be made into anything useful when the fire has devoured it and it is charred!

“Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire as fuel, so I will give up the residents of Jerusalem. I will turn against them. They may have escaped from the fire, but it will still consume them. And you will know that I am Yahweh when I turn against them. I will make the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.

Ezekiel 15 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The word of the Lord came to me:

O mortal, how does the wood of the vine surpass all other wood—

the vine branch that is among the trees of the forest?

Is wood taken from it to make anything?

Does one take a peg from it on which to hang any object?

It is put in the fire for fuel;

when the fire has consumed both ends of it

and the middle of it is charred,

is it useful for anything?

When it was whole it was used for nothing;

how much less—when the fire has consumed it,

and it is charred—

can it ever be used for anything!

Therefore thus says the Lord God: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will set my face against them; although they escape from the fire, the fire shall still consume them; and you shall know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, says the Lord God.

Ezekiel 15 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

And the word of Yahweh came to me, saying, “Son of man, how will the wood of the vine be better than any of the wood of the branch which is among the trees of the forest? Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can they take a tent peg from it to hang on it any object? Look! It is given to the fire as fuel. The fire will consume two of its ends, and its middle will be charred. Is it useful for anything? Look! When it is in perfect condition, it will not be used for anything, how much less when the fire has consumed it and it is charred; and then can it be used again for anything? Therefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: Just like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest which I gave to the fire for fuel, so I have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And I will set my face against them. From the fire they may escape, but the fire will yet consume them, and they will know that I am Yahweh when I set my face against them. And I will make the land a desolation because they acted very unfaithfully!” declares the Lord Yahweh.

Ezekiel 15 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

A message came to me from the Lord. He said, “Son of man, is the wood of a vine better than the wood of any of the trees in the forest? Can its wood ever be made into anything useful? Can pegs be made from it to hang things on?

“Suppose it is thrown in the fire to be burned. And the fire burns both ends and blackens the middle. Then is it useful for anything? It was not useful when it was whole. So how can it be made into something useful now? The fire has burned it and blackened it.”

The Lord and King says, “Instead of the wood of any tree in the forest, I have given the vine to burn in the fire. I will treat the people who live in Jerusalem the same way. I will turn against them. They might have come out of the fire. But the fire will destroy them anyway. I will turn against them. Then they will know that I am the Lord. I will make the land a dry and empty desert. My people have not been faithful to me,” announces the Lord and King.

Ezekiel 15 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

“Can wood be taken from it to make anything, or can men take a peg from it on which to hang any vessel?

If it has been put into the fire for fuel, and the fire has consumed both of its ends and its middle part has been charred, is it then useful for anything?

Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything!

Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘As the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so have I given up the inhabitants of Jerusalem;

and I set My face against them. Though they have come out of the fire, yet the fire will consume them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them.

‘Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ ” declares the Lord God.


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