The Outcast Vine
1 Then the word of theLordcame to me, saying:
2 “Son of man, how is the wood of the vinebetterthan any other wood, the vine branch which is among the trees of the forest?
3 Is wood taken from it to make any object? Or canmenmake a peg from it to hang any vessel on?
4 Instead,it is thrown into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both ends of it, and its middle is burned. Is it useful foranywork?
5 Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful foranywork when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?
6 “Therefore thus says the LordGod: ‘Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so I will give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
7 andI will set My face against them.They will go out fromonefire, butanotherfire shall devour them.Then you shall know that IamtheLord, when I set My face against them.
8 Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the LordGod.”