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24 After Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had captured and enslaved Jeconiah (son of Jehoiakim), king of Judah, and exiled him to Babylon along with the princes of Judah and the skilled tradesmen—the carpenters and blacksmiths—the Lord gave me this vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the Temple in Jerusalem. In one basket there were fresh, just-ripened figs, but in the other the figs were spoiled and moldy—too rotten to eat. Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

I replied, “Figs, some very good and some very bad.”

4-5 Then the Lord said: “The good figs represent the exiles sent to Babylon. I have done it for their good. I will see that they are well treated, and I will bring them back here again. I will help them and not hurt them; I will plant them and not pull them up. I will give them hearts that respond to me. They shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with great joy.

“But the rotten figs represent Zedekiah, king of Judah, his officials, and all the others of Jerusalem left here in this land; those too who live in Egypt. I will treat them like spoiled figs, too bad to use. I will make them repulsive to every nation of the earth, and they shall be mocked and taunted and cursed wherever I compel them to go. 10 And I will send massacre and famine and disease among them until they are destroyed from the land of Israel, which I gave to them and to their fathers.”

Two Baskets of Figs

24 After Jehoiachin[a](A) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs(B) placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early;(C) the other basket had very bad(D) figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see,(E) Jeremiah?”

“Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”

Then the word of the Lord came to me: “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent(F) away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.[b] My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back(G) to this land. I will build(H) them up and not tear them down; I will plant(I) them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know(J) me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people,(K) and I will be their God, for they will return(L) to me with all their heart.(M)

“‘But like the bad(N) figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah(O) king of Judah, his officials(P) and the survivors(Q) from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.(R) I will make them abhorrent(S) and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword,(T) a curse[c](U) and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish(V) them. 10 I will send the sword,(W) famine(X) and plague(Y) against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.(Z)’”

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 24:1 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant of Jehoiachin
  2. Jeremiah 24:5 Or Chaldeans
  3. Jeremiah 24:9 That is, their names will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that they are cursed.