1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
2. "Son of man, what can be made from the stalk of a vine, compared to all the plants of the woods that are among the trees of the forests?
3. Can any wood be taken from it, so that it may be made into a work, or formed into a peg so as to hang some kind of vessel upon it?
4. Behold, it is used in the fire as fuel. The fire consumes both its ends; and its middle is reduced to ashes. So how can it be useful for any work?
5. Even when it was whole, it was unsuitable for a work. How much more so, when fire has devoured it and burned it up, will nothing of it be useful?
6. Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Like the stalk of the vine among the trees of the forests, which I have given to be devoured by fire, so will I deliver the inhabitants of Jerusalem.