Ezekiel 15

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

And there is a word of Jehovah unto 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 vine-tree more than any tree? The vine-branch that hath been, Among 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?

Is wood taken from it to use for work? Do they take of it a pin to hang any vessel on it?

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?

Lo, to the fire it hath been given for fuel, Its two ends hath the fire eaten, And its midst hath been scorched! Is it profitable for 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.

Lo, in its being perfect it is not used for work, How much less, when fire hath eaten of it, And it is scorched, Hath it been used yet for work?

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 said the Lord Jehovah: As the vine-tree among trees of the forest, That I have given to the fire for fuel, So I have given 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 have set My face against them, From the fire they have gone forth, And the fire doth consume them, And ye have known that I [am] Jehovah, In My setting 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 have made the land a desolation, Because they have committed a trespass, An affirmation of the Lord Jehovah!'