Ezekiel 15
Living Bible
15 Then this message came to me from the Lord:
2 “Son of dust, what good are vines from the forest? Are they as useful as trees? Are they even as valuable as a single branch? 3 No, for vines can’t be used even for making pegs to hang up pots and pans! 4 All they are good for is fuel—and even so, they burn but poorly! 5-6 So they are useless both before and after being put in the fire!
“This is what I mean,” the Lord God says: “The people of Jerusalem are like the vines of the forest—useless before being burned and certainly useless afterwards! 7 And I will set myself against them to see to it that if they escape from one fire, they will fall into another; and then you shall know I am the Lord. 8 And I will make the land desolate because they worship idols,” says the Lord God.
Ezekiel 15
New International Version
Jerusalem as a Useless Vine
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine(A) different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? 3 Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful?(B) Do they make pegs(C) from it to hang things on? 4 And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything?(D) 5 If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?
6 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. 7 I will set my face against(E) them. Although they have come out of the fire(F), the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord.(G) 8 I will make the land desolate(H) because they have been unfaithful,(I) declares the Sovereign Lord.”
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