Jeremiah 24

1 The Lord showed me in vision two baskets of figs placed in front of the Lord's Temple. This happened after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken to Babylon Jehoiachin, son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, as well as the leaders of Judah, and the craftsmen and metal-workers from Jerusalem.

Jehovah showed me this vision. Behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of Jehovah. This was after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had carried away captive Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, and the artificers, and the smiths, from Jerusalem, and had led them to Babylon.

2 One basket was full of very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket only had very bad figs, so bad they couldn't be eaten.

One of the baskets contained very good figs, like those which are first ripe. The other contained very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten.

3 “Jeremiah,” the Lord asked, “what can you see?” “I see figs!” I replied. “The good figs look very good, but the bad figs look very bad, so bad they can't be eaten.”

And Jehovah said to me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said: Figs; the good figs, exceedingly good; and the bad, exceedingly bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.

4 Then a message from the Lord came to me, saying,

Then came the word of Jehovah to me, saying:

5 This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent to me the exiles from Judah, those I have sent away from here to the country of Babylonia.

Thus saith Jehovah, the God of Israel: As these good figs, so will I regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of Chaldaea for their good;

6 I will watch over them and I will bring them back to this country. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.

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

7 I will give them the desire to know me, to know that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will come back completely committed to me.

And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am Jehovah; and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

8 But the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten, says the Lord, represent the way I will deal with Zedekiah, king of Judah, his officials, and those who are left of Jerusalem, as well as those remaining in this country and those living in Egypt.

And as the bad figs, which are so bad that they cannot be eaten, saith Jehovah, so will I make Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, those that are left in this land, and those that dwell in the land of Egypt;

9 I'm going to make an example of them that will horrify and offend everyone on earth. They will be disgraced, mocked, ridiculed, and cursed everywhere I've exiled them.

and I will give them up to oppression and affliction in all the kingdoms of the earth; yea, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.

10 I'm going to attack them with war and famine and plague, until they're completely wiped out from the country that I gave to them and their forefathers.

And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they be consumed from the land, which I gave to them and to their fathers.