Old Testament
Ezekiel 15
Overview
In a brief but pointed parable, the LORD asks what good the wood of the vine is compared with the wood of a forest tree. A vine yields no timber, makes no useful peg, and once charred at both ends by fire is good for nothing at all. So God declares Jerusalem to be like that burnt vine-wood—fit only for the fire—because its inhabitants have been unfaithful, and He will set His face against them.
1Yahweh’s word came to me, saying,
2“Son of man, what is the vine tree more than any tree, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3Will wood be taken of it to make anything? Will men take a pin of it to hang any vessel on it?
4Behold, 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?
5Behold, when it was whole, it was suitable for no work. How much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it has been burned, will it yet be suitable for any work?”
6Therefore the Lord Yahweh says: “As the vine wood among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7I will set my face against them. They will go out from the fire, but the fire will still devour them. Then you will know that I am Yahweh, when I set my face against them.
8I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,” says the Lord Yahweh.