24 The vision of the baskets of figs, 5 Signifieth that part of the people should be brought again out of captivity. 8 And that Zedekiah and the rest of the people should be carried away.
1 The Lord showed me, and behold, two [a]baskets of figs were set before the Temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babel had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the workmen, and cunning men of Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babel.
2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe, and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so evil.
3 Then said the Lord unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs: the good figs very good, and the naughty very naughty, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
4 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, Like these good figs, so will I know them that are carried away captive of Judah to be good, whom I have sent out of this [b]place, into the land of the Chaldeans.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land, and I will build them and not destroy them, and I will plant them, and not root them out.
7 And I will give them [c]an heart to know me, that I am the Lord, and they shall be (A)my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
8 (B)And as the naughty figs which cannot be eaten, they are so evil (surely thus saith the Lord) so will I give Zedekiah the King of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell [d]in the land of Egypt:
9 I will even give them for a terrible plague to all the kingdoms of the earth, and for a reproach and for a proverb, for a common talk, and for a curse, in all places where I shall cast them.
10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they be consumed out of the land, that I gave unto them, and to their fathers.
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 24:1 The good figs signified them that were gone into captivity, and so saved their life, as Jer. 21:8, and the naughty figs them that remained, which were yet subject to the sword, famine and pestilence.
- Jeremiah 24:5 Whereby he approveth the yielding of Jeconiah and his company, because they obeyed the Prophet, who exhorted them thereunto.
- Jeremiah 24:7 Which declareth that man of himself can know nothing, till God give the heart and understanding.
- Jeremiah 24:8 Which fled thither for succor.