Hiezechielis Prophetæ 15

1 Et factus est sermo Domini ad me, dicens:

Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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