Two Baskets of Figs
24 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs sitting in front of the Lord’s temple. This took place after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had exiled Jeconiah[a] son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, from Jerusalem, along with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the smiths, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 One basket had very good figs, like early figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. 3 Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
“Figs,” I said. “The good figs are very good, and the bad ones are very bad, so bad they cannot be eaten.”
4 The word of the Lord came to me.
5 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says. I will treat the exiles from Judah like these good figs, those exiles that I sent out from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will keep my eye on them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God. They will return to me with their whole heart.
8 But like the bad figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten—this is what the Lord says—this is how I will deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and with those who live in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them an object of horror and disaster among all the nations of the earth. They will be a disgrace, a proverb, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I banish them. 10 I will send the sword, famine, and plague against them until they have perished from the soil that I have given to them and to their fathers.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 24:1 That is, Jehoiachin