Jeremiah 24

1 The Lord gave me a vision, and I saw two baskets full of figs put in front of the Temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, had taken prisoner Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the chiefs of Judah, and the expert workmen and metal-workers from Jerusalem, and had taken them to Babylon.

The LORD showed me, and look, two baskets of figs set before the LORD's temple, after that Nebuchadnezzar 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.

2 One basket had very good figs, like the figs which first come to growth: and the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they were of no use for food.

One basket had very good figs, like the figs that are first-ripe; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

3 Then the Lord said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs are very good, and the bad very bad, and of no use for food, they are so bad.

Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I said, "Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, that can't be eaten, they are so bad."

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

The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

5 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said: Like these good figs, so in my eyes will be the prisoners of Judah, whom I have sent from this place into the land of the Chaldaeans for their good.

"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: 'Like these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.

6 For I will keep my eyes on them for good, and I will take them back again to this land, building them up and not pulling them down, planting them and not uprooting them.

For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

7 And I will give them a heart to have knowledge of me, that I am the Lord: and they will be my people, and I will be their God: for they will come back to me with all their heart.

I will give them a heart to know me, 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.'

8 And like the bad figs which are so bad that they are of no use for food, so I will give up Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his chiefs and the rest of Jerusalem who are still in this land, and those who are in the land of Egypt:

As the bad figs, which can't be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus says the LORD, 'So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem, who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt,

9 I will give them up to be a cause of fear and of trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth; to be a name of shame and common talk and a cutting word and a curse in all the places wherever I will send them wandering.

I will make them a horror, an evil thing, to all the kingdoms of the earth, as a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.

10 And I will send the sword, and need of food, and disease, among them till they are all cut off from the land which I gave to them and to their fathers.

I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, until they be consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.'"