Hiezechielis Prophetæ 15

1 Et factus est sermo Domini ad me, dicens:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

2 Fili hominis, quid fiet de ligno vitis ex omnibus lignis nemorum, quæ sunt inter ligna silvarum?

“Son of man, what can be made from the stalk of a vine, compared to all the plants of the woods that are among the trees of the forests?

3 Numquid tolletur de ea lignum, ut fiat opus, aut fabricabitur de ea paxillus, ut dependeat in eo quodcumque vas?

Can any wood be taken from it, so that it may be made into a work, or formed into a peg so as to hang some kind of vessel upon it?

4 Ecce igni datum est in escam: utramque partem eius consumpsit ignis, et medietas eius redacta est in favillam: numquid utile erit ad opus?

Behold, it is used in the fire as fuel. The fire consumes both its ends; and its middle is reduced to ashes. So how can it be useful for any work?

5 Etiam cum esset integrum, non erat aptum ad opus: quanto magis cum illud ignis devoraverit, et combusserit, nihil ex eo fiet operis?

Even when it was whole, it was unsuitable for a work. How much more so, when fire has devoured it and burned it up, will nothing of it be useful?

6 Propterea hæc dicit Dominus Deus: Quomodo lignum vitis inter ligna silvarum, quod dedi igni ad devorandum, sic tradam habitatores Ierusalem.

Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Like the stalk of the vine among the trees of the forests, which I have given to be devoured by fire, so will I deliver the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

7 Et ponam faciem meam in eos: de igne egredientur, et ignis consumet eos: et scietis quia ego Dominus, cum posuero faciem meam in eos,

And I will set my face against them. They will go away from fire, and yet fire will consume them. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I will have set my face against them,

8 et dedero terram inviam, et desolatam: eo quod prævaricatores extiterint, dicit Dominus Deus.

and when I will have made their land impassable and desolate. For they have stood forth as transgressors, says the Lord God.”