1. A message came to me from the Lord. He said,
2. "Son of man, is the wood of a vine better than the wood of any of the trees in the forest?
3. Can its wood ever be made into anything useful? Can pegs be made from it to hang things on?
4. "Suppose it is thrown in the fire to be burned. And the fire burns both ends and blackens the middle. Then is it useful for anything?
5. It was not useful when it was whole. So how can it be made into something useful now? The fire has burned it and blackened it."