Ezekiel 15

Jerusalem is like a useless vine

1The Lord gave this message to me:

2‘Son of man, the wood of a vine is no better than the wood of any other tree that grows in the forest.

3Nobody can use its wood to make anything that is useful. They cannot even make pegs to hang clothes on!

4You can throw it on a fire to make the fire burn. But after the fire has finished, only a useless black piece of vine remains.

5It was useless before you put it on the fire. It is even more useless after the fire has burnt it. You cannot make anything with it.

6So this is what the Almighty Lord says: Among the trees of the forest, I have provided the wood of vines to burn on a fire. In the same way, I will take the people of Jerusalem to punish them.

7I will become their enemy. They may have escaped from the fire once, but soon the fire will destroy them. When I punish them like that, then you will know that I am the Lord.

8They have not served me faithfully. So I will destroy their land. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’