Chapter 24

Baskets of Figs and the Returnees

1 After aNebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the officials of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me: behold, two bbaskets of figs set before the temple of the Lord!

2 One basket had very good figs, like afirst-ripe figs, and the other basket had bvery bad figs which could not be eaten due to rottenness.

3 Then the Lord said to me, “aWhat do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad figs, very bad, which cannot be eaten due to rottenness.”

4 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

5 “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard aas good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

6 ‘For I will set My eyes on them for good, and I will abring them again to this land; and I will bbuild them up and not overthrow them, and I will cplant them and not pluck them up.

7 ‘I will give them a aheart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be bMy people, and I will be their God, for they will creturn to Me with their whole heart.

8 ‘But like the abad figs which cannot be eaten due to rottenness—indeed, thus says the Lord—so I will 1abandon bZedekiah king of Judah and his officials, and the cremnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land and the ones who dwell in the land of dEgypt.

9 ‘I will amake them a terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a breproach and a proverb, a taunt and a ccurse in all places where I will scatter them.

10 ‘I will send the asword, the famine and the pestilence upon them until they are destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their forefathers.’ ”

Chapter 25

Prophecy of the Captivity

1 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the afourth year of bJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the cfirst year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon),

2 which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the apeople of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying,

3 “From the athirteenth year of bJosiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, even to this day, 1these ctwenty-three years the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you 2dagain and again, but you have not listened.

4 “And the Lord has sent to you all His aservants the prophets 1again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear,

5 saying, ‘aTurn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds, and dwell on the land which the Lord has given to you and your forefathers bforever and ever;

6 and ado not go after other gods to 1serve them and to 2worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the work of your hands, and I will do you no harm.’

7 “Yet you have not listened to Me,” declares the Lord, “in order that you might aprovoke Me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm.

8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words,

9 behold, I will asend and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, bMy servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about; and I will 1utterly destroy them and cmake them a horror and a hissing, and an everlasting desolation.

10 ‘Moreover, I will 1atake from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the bsound of the millstones and the light of the lamp.

11 ‘aThis whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon bseventy years.

Babylon Will Be Judged

12 ‘Then it will be awhen seventy years are completed I will bpunish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans; and cI will make it an everlasting desolation.

13 ‘I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in athis book which Jeremiah has prophesied against ball the nations.

14 ‘(1For amany nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will brecompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’ ”

15 For thus the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this acup of the wine of wrath from My hand and cause all the nations to whom I send you to drink it.

16 “They will adrink and stagger and go mad because of the sword that I will send among them.”

17 Then I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and amade all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it:

18 aJerusalem and the cities of Judah and its kings and its princes, to make them a ruin, a horror, a hissing and a curse, as it is this day;

19 aPharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his princes and all his people;

20 and all the 1aforeign people, all the kings of the bland of Uz, all the kings of the land of the cPhilistines (even Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron and the remnant of dAshdod);

21 aEdom, bMoab and the sons of cAmmon;

22 and all the kings of aTyre, all the kings of Sidon and the kings of bthe coastlands which are beyond the sea;

23 and aDedan, Tema, bBuz and all who ccut the corners of their hair;

24 and all the kings of aArabia and all the kings of the 1bforeign people who dwell in the desert;

25 and all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of aElam and all the kings of bMedia;

26 and all the kings of the north, near and far, one with another; and aall the kingdoms of the earth which are upon the face of the ground, and the king of 1bSheshach shall drink after them.

27 “You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, “aDrink, be drunk, vomit, fall and rise no more because of the bsword which I will send among you.” ’

28 “And it will be, if they arefuse to take the cup from your hand to drink, then you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “bYou shall surely drink!

29 “For behold, I am abeginning to work calamity in this city which is bcalled by My name, and shall you be completely free from punishment? You will not be free from punishment; for cI am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth,” declares the Lord of hosts.’

30 “Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,

‘The aLord will broar from on high

And utter His voice from His holy habitation;

He will roar mightily against His 1fold.

He will shout like those who tread the grapes,

Against all the inhabitants of the earth.

31 ‘A clamor has come to the end of the earth,

Because the Lord has aa controversy with the nations.

He is entering into bjudgment with all flesh;

As for the wicked, He has given them to the sword,’ declares the Lord.”

32 Thus says the Lord of hosts,

“Behold, evil is going forth

From anation to nation,

And a great bstorm is being stirred up

From the remotest parts of the earth.

33 “Those aslain by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the 1other. They will bnot be lamented, gathered or buried; they will be like cdung on the face of the ground.

34 “Wail, you shepherds, and cry;

And awallow in ashes, you masters of the flock;

For the days of your bslaughter and your dispersions 1have come,

And you will fall like a choice vessel.

35 “aFlight will perish from the shepherds,

And escape from the masters of the flock.

36 “Hear the sound of the cry of the shepherds,

And the wailing of the masters of the flock!

For the Lord is destroying their pasture,

37 “And the peaceful 1afolds are made silent

Because of the bfierce anger of the Lord.

38 “He has left His hiding place alike the lion;

For their land has become a horror

Because of the fierceness of the 1oppressing sword

And because of His fierce anger.”

Chapter 26

Cities of Judah Warned

1 In the beginning of the reign of aJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying,

2 “Thus says the Lord, ‘aStand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have bcome to worship in the Lord’s house call the words that I have commanded you to speak to them. dDo not omit a word!

3 ‘aPerhaps they will listen and everyone will turn from his evil way, that bI may repent of the calamity which I am planning to do to them because of the evil of their deeds.’

4 “And you will say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, “aIf you will not listen to Me, to bwalk in My law which I have set before you,

5 to listen to the words of aMy servants the prophets, whom I have been sending to you 1again and again, but you have not listened;

6 then I will make this house like aShiloh, and this city I will make a bcurse to all the nations of the earth.” ’ ”

A Plot to Murder Jeremiah

7 The apriests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord.

8 When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “aYou must die!

9 “Why have you prophesied in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh and this city will be adesolate, without inhabitant’?” And ball the people gathered about Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.

10 When the aofficials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat in the bentrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s house.

11 Then the priests and the prophets aspoke to the officials and to all the people, saying, “A bdeath sentence for this man! For he has prophesied cagainst this city as you have heard in your hearing.”

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “aThe Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard.

13 “Now therefore aamend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will 1change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you.

14 “But