2 One basket had very good figs, nlike first-ripe figs, but the other basket had overy bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, pwhom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 qI will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. rI will build them up, and not tear them down; sI will plant them, and not pluck them up. 7 tI will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, uand they shall be my people uand I will be their God, vfor they shall return to me with their whole heart.

8 “But thus says the Lord: Like wthe bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat xZedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who ydwell in the land of Egypt.