USB ~ Ezekiel 15

Parable of the Vine.

1 † The word of the LORD came to me:

2 Son of man, what makes the wood of the vine Better than the wood of branches found on the trees in the forest? a

3 Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Can someone make even a peg out of it on which to hang a vessel?

4 Of course not! If it is fed to the fire for fuel, and the fire devours both ends of it, Leaving the middle charred, is it useful for anything then?

5 Even when it is whole it cannot be used for anything; So when fire has devoured and charred it, how useful can it be?

6 Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD: Like vine wood among forest trees, which I have given as fuel for fire, So I will give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.

7 I will set my face against them: Although they have escaped the fire, the fire will still devour them; You shall know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them. b

8 Yes, I will make the land desolate, because they are so unfaithful— oracle of the Lord GOD.

Footnotes

†. 15:1-8 Verses 2-5 point out that the wood of the vinestock may be burned for fuel, fit only for destruction. In vv. 6-8 Ezekiel asserts that Jerusalem has the same destiny.

15:2 cf. Ps 80; Is 5:1-7.
15:7 Is 24:18; Am 9:1-4.