¹ Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

² “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine surpass any other branch among the trees in the forest?

³ Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can one make from it a peg on which to hang utensils?

⁴ No, it is cast into the fire for fuel. The fire devours both ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything?

⁵ Even when it was whole, it could not be made useful. How much less can it ever be useful when the fire has consumed it and charred it!

⁶ Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘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 people of Jerusalem.

⁷ And I will set My face against them. Though they may have escaped the fire, yet another fire will consume them. And when I set My face against them, you will know that I am the LORD.

⁸ Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have acted unfaithfully,’ declares the Lord GOD.”