Jerusalem, the Vine, Will Be Burned
1Then the LORD spoke to me and said,
2“Son of man, are the pieces of wood from a grapevine any better than the little branches cut from trees in the forest?
3You can’t use its wood to make anything, can you? It’s not even good for pegs to hang dishes on!
4It can be used to make a fire. But after the ends burn and the middle is scorched, what then?
5If you can’t make anything from that wood before it is burned, you surely can’t make anything after it is burned!
6The people of Jerusalem are as useless as the wood from the grapevines growing among the trees of the forest. So I will throw them into the fire to burn like that wood!” This is what the Lord GOD said.
7“I will punish those people. But some of them will be like the sticks that don’t burn completely. They will be punished, but they will not be destroyed completely. You will see that I punished them, and you will know that I am the LORD!
8I will destroy that country because the people left me to worship false gods.” This is what the Lord GOD said.