The vine’s wood

¹The LORD ’s word came to me:

²Human one, how is the vine’s wood better than the wood of all the trees in the forest?

³Can you make anything useful from its wood? Can you make a peg from it and hang objects on it?

⁴If not, can it be used as firewood? Fire would consume its two ends, but its middle part would only get charred. So is it useful for anything?

⁵Look, even when it was whole, it was worthless. Now that the fire has consumed it, and it is charred, it’s even more useless.

⁶Therefore, the LORD God proclaims: Of all the trees in the forest, I have decreed that the vine’s wood is destined to be consumed by fire. So also have I decreed for those who live in Jerusalem,

⁷and I have confronted them. They may try to go out from the fire, but the fire will consume them. You will know that I am the LORD , because I confronted them.

⁸I will turn the land into a ruin because they acted faithlessly, proclaims the LORD God.