Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: In verses 6-8 God applies the parable of the useless vine to the people of Jerusalem The conjunction Therefore links the application to the parable. Lord renders the Hebrew word ʾadonai, and GOD renders “Yahweh” (YHWH in Hebrew), the name of God.
Like the wood of the vine among the trees of the forest, which I have given to the fire for fuel, so will I give up the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Based on the parable in verses 2-5, God compares the useless vine to the people of Jerusalem. Grammatically this sentence is strained, and translators may need to rearrange it to make sense in their own languages. The relative clause which I have given to the fire for fuel goes with the wood of the vine and contains the idea that the comparison depends on. The wood of the vine among the trees of the forest is an awkward expression that translations try to render naturally as follows: “a vine is taken from the forest” (Good News Translation), “grapevines growing among the trees of the forest” (New Living Translation), and “the wood of the vine among all kinds of wood from the forest” (Revised English Bible). As in verse 2, this phrase simply focuses on the vine wood as one type of wood among all the different types of wood that grow. Translators may begin this sentence with “Of all the wood in the bush, the wood from the vine is only good as fuel for a fire” or “Most wood in the bush is useful, but the wood of the vine is only good for making a fire.” However, it may be necessary in some languages to omit the reference to the trees of the forest for naturalness (so Contemporary English Version). Possible models for this whole sentence that do this are:
• Just like I made the wood of the vine only useful to burn as firewood, so I will make the people of Jerusalem burn.
• The people of Jerusalem are like that wood from the vine. Unlike other wood, I made it useless for making anything, it is only good for burning in a fire. Just like that, I will make the people of Jerusalem burn in a fire.
Quoted with permission from Gross, Carl & Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Ezekiel. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .