Ezekiel 15 – The Parable of the Vine Wood
A short, sharp parable: Jerusalem is vine wood, fit only for the fire.
Ezekiel 15 is one of Ezekiel's shortest chapters, a compact parable following the elders' judgment in Ezekiel 14: vine wood is useless for building, good only for burning.
And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
Son of man, What is the vine-tree more than any tree, [or than] a branch which is among the trees of the forest?
Shall wood be taken of it to do any work? or will [men] take a pin of it to hang any vessel upon it?
Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devoureth both the ends of it, and the midst of it is burned. Is it suitable for [any] work?
Behold, when it was whole, it was fit for no work: how much less then shall it be fit for [any] work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?
Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As the vine-tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And I will set my face against them; they shall go out from [one] fire, and [another] fire shall devour them; and ye shall know that I [am] the LORD, when I set my face against them.
And I will make the land desolate, because they have committed a trespass, saith the Lord GOD.