< ʻIsikieli 15 >
1 Naʻe hoko ʻae folofola ʻa Sihova kiate au, ʻo pehē,
Yahweh gave me another message. [He said],
2 “Foha ʻoe tangata, ʻoku lelei hake ʻi he hā, ʻae ʻakau ko e vaine ʻi he ngaahi ʻakau kehe, mo e ngaahi vaʻa ʻakau ʻoe vao?
“You human, the wood of a grapevine is certainly not [RHQ] more useful that the branches of the trees in a forest.
3 He ʻoku toʻo mei ai ha laupapa ke fai ʻaki ha ngāue? Pe ʻoku ngaohi ʻe ha taha ha faʻo mei ai ko e tautauʻanga ʻo ha meʻa?
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 Vakai, ʻoku lī ia ki he afi ko e fefie, pea fakatou vela ai hono hiku mo hono kongaloto. He ʻoku ʻaonga ia ki he ngāue?
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 Vakai, ʻi heʻene kei haohaoa naʻe ʻikai ʻaonga ki ha ngāue; kae fēfē nai ʻene ʻaonga ki ha ngāue, ka kuo keina ia ʻe he afi, pea kuo vela?”
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 Ko ia ʻoku pehē ʻe Sihova ko e ʻOtua; “Hangē ko e ʻakau ko e vaine ʻi he ngaahi ʻakau ʻoe vao, ʻe pehē ʻa ʻeku foaki ʻae kakai ʻo Selūsalema ke vela ʻi he afi.
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 Pea te u fakahanga hoku fofonga ke tuʻu kiate kinautolu; te nau hao mei he afi ʻe taha, kae vela ʻakinautolu ʻi he afi kehe ʻe taha; pea te mou ʻilo ko au ko Sihova, ʻoku tuʻu hoku mata kiate kimoutolu.
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 Pea te u ngaohi ke lala ʻae fonua koeʻuhi kuo nau fai ʻae meʻa hala.” ʻOku pehē ʻe Sihova ko e ʻOtua.
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.”