1The word of the Lord came to me:2‘Son of man, how is the wood of a vine different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest?3Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? Do they make pegs from it to hang things on?4And 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?5If 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.7I will set my face against them. Although they have come out of the fire, the fire will yet consume them. And when I set my face against them, you will know that I am the Lord.8I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.’