< Jeremias 24 >
1 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs, lying in front of the temple of the Lord, after Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried captive Jechonias son of Joakim king of Juda, and the princes, and the artificers, and the prisoners, and the rich men out of Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
Jehovah hath shewed me, and lo, two baskets of figs, appointed before the temple of Jehovah, — after the removing by Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, of Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the heads of Judah, and the artisan, and the smith, from Jerusalem, when he bringeth them into Babylon —
2 The one basket was [full] of very good figs, as the early figs; and the other basket was [full] of very bad figs, which could not be eaten, for their badness.
In the one basket [are] figs very good, like the first-ripe figs, and in the other basket [are] figs very bad, that are not eaten for badness.
3 And the Lord said to me, What see you, Jeremias? and I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which can’t be eaten, for their badness.
And Jehovah saith unto me, 'What art thou seeing, Jeremiah?' and I say, 'Figs, the good figs [are] very good, and the bad [are] very bad, that are not eaten for badness.'
4 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:
5 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel; As these good figs, so will I acknowledge the Jews that have been carried away captive, whom I have sent forth out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for good.
Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Like these good figs so do I acknowledge The removed of Judah — that I sent from this place, [To] the land of the Chaldeans — for good.
6 And I will fix mine eyes upon them for good, and I will restore them into this land for good: and I will build them up, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
And I have set Mine eyes on them for good, And have brought them back to this land, And built them up, and I throw not down, And have planted them, and pluck not up.
7 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God: for they shall turn to me with all their heart.
And have given to them a heart to know Me, For I [am] Jehovah, And they have been to Me for a people, And I am to them for God, For they turned back unto Me with all their heart.
8 And as the bad figs, which can’t be eaten, for their badness; thus says the Lord, So will I deliver Sedekias king of Juda, and his nobles, and the remnant of Jerusalem, them that are left in this land, and the dwellers in Egypt.
And like the bad figs, that are not eaten for badness, Surely thus said Jehovah: So do I make Zedekiah king of Judah, And his heads, and the remnant of Jerusalem, Who are left in this land, And who are dwelling in the land of Egypt,
9 And I will cause them to be dispersed into all the kingdoms of the earth, and they shall be for a reproach, and a proverb, and an [object of] hatred, and a curse, in every place whither I have driven them out.
And I have given them for a trembling, For evil — to all kingdoms of the earth, For a reproach, and for a simile, For a byword, and for a reviling, In all the places whither I drive them.
10 And I will send against them famine, and pestilence, and the sword, until they are consumed from off the land which I gave them.
And I have sent against them the sword, The famine and the pestilence, Till their consumption from off the ground, That I gave to them and to their fathers!