Ezekiel 15
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 15[a]
The Useless Vine. 1 This word of the Lord came to me:
2 Son of man, how is the wood of the vine
better than any other wood,
the vine branch from a tree in the forest?
3 Is its wood used to make anything?
Are pegs fashioned from it to hang anything?
4 If it is thrown on the fire for fuel,
and the fire consumes both ends and chars the middle,
is it useful for anything?
5 When it was whole,
it served no purpose.
How much less, when the fire has consumed it
and it is charred,
can it be used for anything?
6 Therefore, thus says the Lord God:
Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest
that I have thrown on the fire for fuel,
so will I treat the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
7 I have set my face against them.
Although they escape from the fire,
that fire will still devour them.
And you will know that I am the Lord
when I turn my face against them.
8 I will reduce the entire land into a desolate waste
because they have been unfaithful,
says the Lord God.
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 15:1 Ezekiel likes allegories and parables (Ezek 17:2). We have already met in Isaiah, the song of the disappointed vineyard owner (Isa 5:7). A vineyard was valuable for its fruit, not for its wood.
Ezekiel 15
New International Version
Jerusalem as a Useless Vine
15 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine(A) different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? 3 Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful?(B) Do they make pegs(C) from it to hang things on? 4 And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything?(D) 5 If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?
6 “Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: As I have given the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest as fuel for the fire, so will I treat the people living in Jerusalem. 7 I will set my face against(E) them. Although they have come out of the fire(F), the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord.(G) 8 I will make the land desolate(H) because they have been unfaithful,(I) declares the Sovereign Lord.”
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