Jeremiah 24

The Good and the Bad Figs

24After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah ^zson of Jehoiakim king of Judah, the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen and metalsmiths ^afrom Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs ^bplaced before the temple of the Lord. ²One basket contained very good figs, like early figs, ^cbut the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they were inedible. ³The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs! The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are extremely bad, so bad they are inedible.”

⁴The 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. ⁶I will keep My eyes on them for their good ^dand will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them. ^e7I will give them a heart to know Me, ^fthat I am Yahweh. They will be My people, and I will be their God because they will return to Me with all their heart. ^g

⁸“But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible, ^hthis 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 and those living in the land of Egypt. ⁱ⁹I will make them an object of horror ^jand disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace, an object of scorn, ridicule, ^kand cursing, wherever I have banished them. ^l10I will send the sword, famine, and plague ^magainst them until they have perished from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.”