Ezekiel 15

1 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

And the word of Jehovah came to me, saying:

2 “Son of man, how is a vine better than any tree with branches that is among the trees in a forest?

Son of man, what is the wood of the vine more than any wood, —a branch, that is among the trees of the forest?

3 Do people take wood from a vine to make anything? Or do they make a peg from it to hang anything on it?

Shall wood be taken from it to be wrought into any work? Or will men take a pin of it to hang a vessel upon?

4 See! If it is thrown into a fire as fuel, and if the fire has burned both of its ends and also the middle, is it good for anything?

Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the middle of it is burned. Is it then fit for any work?

5 See! When it was complete, it could not make anything; surely then, when the fire has burned, then it still will not make anything useful.

Behold, when it was whole, nothing could be made of it; how much less can anything be made of it when the fire hath devoured it and it is burned!

6 Therefore the Lord Yahweh says this: Unlike the trees in the forests, I have given the vine as fuel for fires; I will act in the same way toward the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

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 to it the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

7 For I will set my face against them. Though they come out from the fire, yet the fire will consume them; so you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.

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 Jehovah, when I set my face against them.

8 Then I will make the land into an abandoned wasteland because they have committed sin—this is the Lord Yahweh's declaration.”

And I will make the land desolate, because they have grievously trespassed, saith the Lord Jehovah.