Ezekiel 15:1-8 TLB

[1] Then this message came to me from the Lord: [2] "Son of dust, what good are vines from the forest? Are they as useful as trees? Are they even as valuable as a single branch? [3] No, for vines can't be used even for making pegs to hang up pots and pans! [4] All they are good for is fuel-and even so, they burn but poorly! [5] So they are useless both before and after being put in the fire! "This is what I mean," the Lord God says: "The people of Jerusalem are like the vines of the forest-useless before being burned and certainly useless afterwards! [7] And I will set myself against them to see to it that if they escape from one fire, they will fall into another; and then you shall know I am the Lord. [8] And I will make the land desolate because they worship idols," says the Lord God.