1   These were the words of the Lord to me:

   2   Man, how is the vine better than any other tree,
  than a branch from a tree in the forest?
     3   Is wood got from it
      fit to make anything useful?
    Can men make it into a peg
    and hang things on it?
     4   If it is put on the fire for fuel,
    if its two ends are burnt by the fire
      and the middle is charred,
      is it fit for anything useful?
   5   Nothing useful could be made of it even when whole;
  how much less, when it is burnt by the fire and charred,
    can it be made into anything useful!

6   So these are the words of the Lord God:

  I treat the vine, as against forest-trees,
      only as fuel for the fire,
  even so I treat the people of Jerusalem;
     7   I set my face against them.
  Though they escape from the fire, fire shall burn them up.
    Thus you shall know that I am the Lord
    when I set my face against them,
     8   making the land a waste
    because they have broken faith.
      This is the very word of the Lord God.

Jerusalem's downfall certain

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