Chapter 15

Jerusalem is like a useless vine

¹The Lord gave this message to me:

²‘Son of man, the wood of a vine is no better than the wood of any other tree that grows in the forest.[#15:2 In the picture language of the Bible, a often means Israel.]

³Nobody can use its wood to make anything that is useful. They cannot even make pegs to hang clothes on!

⁴You can throw it on a fire to make the fire burn. But after the fire has finished, only a useless black piece of vine remains.

⁵It was useless before you put it on the fire. It is even more useless after the fire has burnt it. You cannot make anything with it.

⁶So this is what the Almighty Lord says: Among the trees of the forest, I have provided the wood of vines to burn on a fire. In the same way, I will take the people of Jerusalem to punish them.

⁷I will become their enemy. They may have escaped from the fire once, but soon the fire will destroy them completely. When I punish them like that, then you will know that I am the Lord .

⁸They have not served me faithfully . So I will destroy their land. That is what the Almighty Lord says.’