1 Y ahweh’s word came to me, saying,

Then the Word of the Lord came to me saying,

2 S on of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine-branch which is among the trees of the forest?

“Son of man, how is the wood of the vine better than any wood of a branch among the trees?

3 W ill wood be taken of it to make anything? Will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel on it?

Can wood be taken from it to make anything? Or can men take a piece of wood from it on which to hang a pot?

4 B ehold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire has devoured both its ends, and the middle of it is burned: is it profitable for any work?

If it has been put into the fire to burn, and the fire has burned up both of its ends, and the center of it is black from the fire, can it then be used for anything?

5 B ehold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work!

See, if it is not used for anything while it is whole, how much less can it ever be used for anything when the fire has burned it up and it has turned black!

6 T herefore thus says the Lord Yahweh: 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.

So the Lord God says, ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees, which I have given to be burned in the fire, so will I give up the people of Jerusalem.

7 I will set my face against them; they shall go out from the fire, but the fire shall devour them; and you shall know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.

I will set My face against them. Even if they get away from the fire, the fire will yet destroy them. Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I set My face against them.

8 I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, says the Lord Yahweh.

I will lay waste the land, because they have not been faithful,’” says the Lord God.