Hezekiel 15

1 Yehowa ƒe nya va nam be,

Yahweh gave me another message. [He said],

2 “Ame vi, aleke wainka nyo wu avemeti ƒe alɔe?

“You human, the wood of a grapevine is certainly not [RHQ] more useful that the branches of the trees in a forest.

3 Ɖe wokpɔa ati si woatsɔ awɔ nu si ŋu ŋudɔwɔnu aɖe le la le emea? Ɖe wowɔa tsyoti tso eme ne woate ŋu atsɔ nane aku ɖe eŋua?

No one [RHQ] ever takes a branch of a grapevine and makes anything [useful] from it. No one [RHQ] even makes pegs from them to hang things on.

4 Eye ne wotsɔe de dzo me abe nake ene la, dzo la bina tso eƒe nugbɔ eve, eye wofiaa eƒe domedome, ekema ɖe ŋudɔwɔnu aɖe gale eŋua?

And after a branch of a grapevine is thrown into a fire, and the fire burns both ends and chars/scorches the branch in the middle, will it then be useful for anything?

5 Ne womete ŋu wɔ eŋu dɔ na naneke esime wònɔ blibo o la, aleke woate ŋu awɔ eŋu dɔ azɔ awɔ nane si ŋu ŋudɔwɔnu le esime dzo bii, eye wòzu aka?

No; if it was not useful for anything before it was burned, it certainly cannot [made into something] useful after the fire has burned and charred it.

6 “Eya ta aleae Aƒetɔ Yehowa gblɔe nye esi: ‘Ale si metsɔ wainti de avemetiwo dome abe nake ene la, nenema kee mawɔ ame siwo le Yerusalem.

Therefore, this is what [I], Yahweh the Lord, say: The wood of grapevines is useful only for fuel in a fire. Similarly, the people who live in [are useless].

7 Mana nye mo nanyra ɖe wo ŋu. Togbɔ be wodo le dzoa me hã la, dzo la agabi wo kokoko. Eye ne mena nye mo nyra ɖe wo ŋu hã la, mianya be, nyee nye Yehowa.

I will reject [IDM] them. [It will be as though] they have escaped from a fire, but there will still be a fire that will burn them up. And when I punish [EUP] them, you [people who remain alive] will know that I, Yahweh, [have done it].

8 Mana anyigba la nazu gbegbe, elabena wogbugbɔ le yonyeme.’ Aƒetɔ Yehowae gblɔe.”

I will cause your country to become a wasteland because your people have not been loyal [to me. That is what I], Yahweh, the Lord, say.”