Hezekiel 15

1 Yehowa ƒe nya va nam be,

Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

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

“Son of man, how is a vine better than any tree with branches that is among 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?

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

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?

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?

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?

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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