Ezekiel 15:5

5 "Hardly. When it was whole it wasn't good for anything. Half-burned is no improvement. What's it good for?

Ezekiel 15:5 Meaning and Commentary

Ezekiel 15:5

Behold, when it was whole it was meet for no work
Before it was cut into pieces, and east into the fire, it was not fit to make so much as a pin of to hang anything on; so Israel, when all together, before the ten tribes were carried captive, or the Jews before the captivity of Jeconiah, were useless and unfruitful, and to every good work reprobate: how much less shall it be meet yet for [any] work when the fire hath
devoured it, and it is burned?
as its wood is good for nothing before it is burned, its ashes are useless after.

Ezekiel 15:5 In-Context

3 Is vine wood ever used to make anything? Is it used to make pegs to hang things from?

4 "I don't think so. At best it's good for fuel. Look at it: a flimsy piece of vine, thrown in the fire and then rescued - the ends burned off and the middle charred. Now is it good for anything?

5 "Hardly. When it was whole it wasn't good for anything. Half-burned is no improvement. What's it good for?

6 "So here's the Message of God, the Master: Like the wood of the vine I selected from among the trees of the forest and used as fuel for the fire, just so I'll treat those who live in Jerusalem.

7 I am dead set against them. Even though at one time they got out of the fire charred, the fire's going to burn them up. When I take my stand against them, you'll realize that I am God.