Ezekiel 15:5
◄  Ezekiel 15:5  ►
New International Version (©2011)
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?

New Living Translation (©2007)
Vines are useless both before and after being put into the fire!

English Standard Version (©2001)
Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything!

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
"Behold, while it is intact, it is not made into anything. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it still be made into anything!

King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)
Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?

Holman Christian Standard Bible (©2009)
Even when it was whole it could not be made into a useful object. How much less can it ever be made into anything useful when the fire has devoured it and it is charred!"

International Standard Version (©2012)
If it was useless before it was burned, now that it's been burned and charred through, it's even more useless!

NET Bible (©2006)
Indeed! If it was not made into anything useful when it was whole, how much less can it be made into anything when the fire has burned it up and it is charred?

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
When the vine was in perfect condition, it couldn't be made into anything. How can it be used to make anything after the fire has burned and charred it?

King James 2000 Bible (©2003)
Behold, when it was whole, it was fit for no work: how much less shall it be fit yet for any work, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

American King James Version
Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned?

American Standard Version
Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work!

Douay-Rheims Bible
Even when it was whole it was not fit for work: how much less, when the fire hath devoured and consumed it, shall any work be made of it?

Darby Bible Translation
Behold, when it was whole, it was used for no work; how much less when the fire hath consumed it, and it is burned, should it yet be used for any work?

English Revised Version
Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work?

Webster's Bible Translation
Behold, when it was whole, it was fit for no work: how much less then shall it be fit for any work, when the fire hath devoured it, and it is burned?

World English Bible
Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned, shall it yet be meet for any work!

Young's Literal Translation
Lo, in its being perfect it is not used for work, How much less, when fire hath eaten of it, And it is scorched, Hath it been used yet for work?

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:1-8 Jerusalem like an unfruitful vine. - If a vine be fruitful, it is valuable. But if not fruitful, it is worthless and useless, it is cast into the fire. Thus man is capable of yielding a precious fruit, in living to God; this is the sole end of his existence; and if he fails in this, he is of no use but to be destroyed. What blindness then attaches to those who live in the total neglect of God and of true religion! This similitude is applied to Jerusalem. Let us beware of an unfruitful profession. Let us come to Christ, and seek to abide in him, and to have his words abide in us.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

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.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

5. If useless before, much more so when almost wholly burnt.

Ezekiel 15:5 Parallel Commentaries

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Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible


Jerusalem the Useless Vine
…4Behold, it is cast into the fire for fuel; the fire devours both the ends of it, and the middle of it is burned. Is it meet for any work? 5Behold, when it was whole, it was meet for no work: how much less shall it be meet yet for any work, when the fire has devoured it, and it is burned? 6Therefore thus said the Lord GOD; As the vine tree among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give the inhabitants of Jerusalem. …

Ezekiel 15:4 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?
Ezekiel 15:6 "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.