1King Jehoiachin was forced to leave Jerusalem. He was the son of Jehoiakim. Jehoiachin was taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. The officials and all the skilled workers were forced to leave with him. After they left, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs. They were in front of his temple.2One basket had very good figs in it. They were like figs that ripen early. The other basket had very bad figs in it. In fact, they were so bad they couldn’t even be eaten.3Then the LORD asked me, ‘What do you see, Jeremiah?’ ‘Figs’, I answered. ‘The good ones are very good. But the others are so bad they can’t be eaten.’4Then a message from the LORD came to me. The LORD said,5‘I am the LORD, the God of Israel. I say, “I consider the people who were forced to leave Judah to be like these good figs. I sent them away from this place. I forced them to go to Babylon.6My eyes will watch over them. I will be good to them. And I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up. I will not tear them down. I will plant them. I will not pull them up by the roots.7I will change their hearts. Then they will know that I am the LORD. They will be my people. And I will be their God. They will return to me with all their heart.8‘ “But there are also bad figs. In fact, they are so bad they can’t be eaten,” says the LORD. “Zedekiah, the king of Judah, is like these bad figs. So are his officials and the people of Jerusalem who are still left alive. I will punish them whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.9I will make all the kingdoms on earth displeased with them. In fact, they will hate them a great deal. They will shake their heads at them. They will curse them and make fun of them. All this will happen no matter where I force them to go.10I will send war, hunger and plague against them. They will be destroyed from the land I gave them and their people of long ago.” ’
Jeremiah 24
English Standard Version
The Good Figs and the Bad Figs
1After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. (2Ki 24:12; 2Ki 24:14; 2Ch 36:10; Jer 22:18; Jer 22:24; Jer 22:28; Jer 29:2; Am 8:1; Mt 1:11)2One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. (Isa 28:4; Jer 29:17)3And 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.”4Then 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, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. (Jer 29:20)6I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. (Jer 1:10; Jer 12:15; Jer 29:10; Jer 31:28; Jer 42:10; Am 9:4; Am 9:15)7I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. (De 30:6; Jer 29:13; Jer 30:22; Jer 31:33; Jer 32:39; Eze 11:19; Eze 36:26; Joe 2:12)8“But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. (Jer 21:1; Jer 24:2; Jer 29:17)9I will make them a horror[1] to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a reproach, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. (De 28:37; 2Ki 22:19; 2Ch 7:20; Ne 2:17; Isa 43:28; Jer 15:4; Jer 25:18; Jer 26:6; Jer 29:18; Jer 29:22; Jer 49:13)10And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.” (Jer 14:12)