Ezekiel 15

1 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

2 Son of man, What is the vine tree more than any tree, [or than] a branch which is among the trees of the forest?

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

3 Shall wood be taken thereof to do any work? or will [men] take a pin of it to hang any vessel thereon?

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

4 Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it meet for [any] work?

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 Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for [any] work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?

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 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

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 And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from [one] fire, and [another] fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I set my face against them.

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 And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.

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