1. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
2. “Son of man, how is the wood of the vine [better] than 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 can [men] make 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 for [any] work?
5. “Indeed, when it was whole, no object could be made from it. How much less will it be useful for [any] work when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?
6. ” Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: ‘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. ‘and I will set My face against them. They will go out from [one] fire, but [another] fire shall devour them. Then you shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I set My face against them.
8. ‘Thus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,’ says the Lord GOD.”