

Although they have come out of the fire ( AF), the fire will yet consume them. ( Z)” Jerusalem as a Useless Vineġ5 The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, how is the wood of a vine ( AA) different from that of a branch from any of the trees in the forest? 3 Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful? ( AB) Do they make pegs ( AC) from it to hang things on? 4 And 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? ( AD) 5 If 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?Ħ “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. 23 You will be consoled when you see their conduct and their actions, for you will know that I have done nothing in it without cause, declares the Sovereign Lord. ( W) They will come to you, and when you see their conduct ( X) and their actions, you will be consoled ( Y) regarding the disaster I have brought on Jerusalem-every disaster I have brought on it. ( P)Ģ1 “For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: How much worse will it be when I send against Jerusalem my four dreadful judgments ( Q)-sword ( R) and famine ( S) and wild beasts and plague ( T)-to kill its men and their animals! ( U) 22 Yet there will be some survivors ( V)-sons and daughters who will be brought out of it. They would save only themselves by their righteousness.

They alone would be saved.ġ9 “Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath ( M) on it through bloodshed, ( N) killing its people and their animals, ( O) 20 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. ( J)ġ7 “Or if I bring a sword ( K) against that country and say, ‘Let the sword pass throughout the land,’ and I kill its people and their animals, ( L) 18 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters. They alone would be saved, but the land would be desolate. 12 The word of the Lord came to me: 13 “Son of man, if a country sins ( A) against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply ( B) and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, ( C) 14 even if these three men-Noah, ( D) Daniel ( E) and Job ( F)-were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, ( G) declares the Sovereign Lord.ġ5 “Or if I send wild beasts ( H) through that country and they leave it childless and it becomes desolate so that no one can pass through it because of the beasts, ( I) 16 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, even if these three men were in it, they could not save their own sons or daughters.
