Parable of the Useless Vine

15 Then the word of the Lord came to me: ² “Son of man, how does the wood of the vine,^(A) that branch among the trees of the forest, compare to any other wood? ³ Can wood be taken from it to make something useful? Or can anyone make a peg from it to hang things on? ⁴ In fact, it is put into the fire as fuel.^(B) The fire devours both of its ends, and the middle is charred. Can it be useful for anything? ⁵ Even when it was whole it could not be made into a useful object. How much less can it ever be made into anything useful when the fire has devoured it and it is charred!

⁶ “Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire as fuel, so I will give up the residents of Jerusalem. ⁷ I will turn against them.^(C) They may have escaped from the fire, but it will still consume them.^(D) And you will know that I am Yahweh when I turn against them. ⁸ I will make the land desolate because they have acted unfaithfully.” This is the declaration of the Lord God.