Ezekiel 15:1-8
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Jerusalem, a useless vine (1-8)
15 The word of Jehovah again came to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine compare with that of any other tree or branch from the trees of the forest?
3 Can a pole from it be used to do work? Or do people make a peg from it to hang utensils on?
4 Look! It is thrown into the fire for fuel, and the fire consumes both ends and scorches the middle. Is it now fit for any work?
5 Even when it was whole, it could not be used for anything. How much less useful it will be when the fire has consumed and scorched it!”
6 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: ‘Just like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given as fuel for the fire, so I will deal with the inhabitants of Jerusalem.+
7 I have set my face against them. They have escaped from the fire, but fire will consume them. And you will have to know that I am Jehovah when I set my face against them.’”+
8 “‘And I will make the land desolate+ because they have acted unfaithfully,’+ declares the Sovereign Lord Jehovah.”