4 The word of the Lord came to me: 5 “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will keep my eyes on them for their goode and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them.f 7 I will give them a heart to know me,g that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God because they will return to me with all their heart.h

8 “But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible,i this is what the Lord says: In this way I will deal with King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem—those remaining in this land or living in the land of Egypt.j 9 I will make them an object of horrork and a disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, an example for disgrace, scorn, ridicule,l and cursing, wherever I have banished them.m 10 I will send the sword, famine, and plaguen against them until they have perished from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.”