Jerusalem the Useless Vine
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Son of man, what is the wood of the vine more than any wood — the branch that was among the trees of the forest?
Is wood taken from it to make anything for work? Do they take from it a peg to hang any vessel on?
See, it is given to the fire for fuel. The fire has devoured its two ends and its middle is charred. Is it fit for work?
See, when it was whole it could not be made into anything for work; how much less when fire has devoured it and it is charred, and it is made into something for work again!
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 have given the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will set my face against them. From the fire they have come out, and the fire will devour them; and you will know that I am the LORD, when I set my face against them.
And I will make the land a desolation, because they have acted unfaithfully, the utterance of the Lord GOD.