< Jeremiah 24 >

1 The Lord shewed me, and beholde, two baskets of figges were set before the Temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchad-nezzar King of Babel had caryed away captiue Ieconiah ye sonne of Iehoiakim King of Iudah, and the princes of Iudah with the workemen, and cunning men of Ierusalem, and had brought them to Babel.
Yahweh showed me something. Behold, two baskets of figs were placed before Yahweh's temple. (This vision happened after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, took into exile Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, the officials of Judah, the craftsmen and the metalworkers from Jerusalem and brought them to Babylon.)
2 One basket had verie good figges, euen like the figges that are first ripe: and the other basket had verie naughtie figges, which could not be eaten, they were so euill.
One basket of figs was very good, like first ripe figs, but the other basket of figs was so very bad that they could not be eaten.
3 Then saide the Lord vnto mee, What seest thou, Ieremiah? And I said, Figges: ye good figges verie good, and the naughtie verie naughtie, which cannot be eaten, they are so euill.
Yahweh said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs. Figs that are very good and figs that are so very bad they cannot be eaten.”
4 Againe the worde of the Lord came vnto me, saying,
Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,
5 Thus sayeth the Lord, the God of Israel, Like these good figges, so will I knowe them that are caryed away captiue of Iudah to bee good, whome I haue sent out of this place, into the land of the Caldeans.
“Yahweh, God of Israel, says this: I will look on the exiles of Judah for their benefit, just like these good figs, the exiles whom I have sent out from this place to the land of Chaldea.
6 For I wil set mine eyes vpon them for good, and I will bring them againe to this lande, and I will build them, and not destroy them, and I will plant them, and not roote them out,
I will set my eyes on them for good and restore them to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down. I will plant them, and not uproot them.
7 And I will giue them an heart to knowe me, that I am the Lord, and they shalbe my people, and I wil be their God: for they shall returne vnto mee with their whole heart.
Then I will give them a heart to know me, for I am Yahweh. They will be my people and I will be their God, so they will turn to me with all their heart.
8 And as the naughtie figges which can not bee eaten, they are so euill (surely thus saith the Lord) so wil I giue Zedekiah the King of Iudah, and his princes, and the residue of Ierusalem, that remaine in this lande, and them that dwell in the lande of Egypt:
But like the bad figs that are too bad to be eaten—this is what Yahweh says—I will act in this way with Zedekiah, king of Judah, with his officials, and with the rest of Jerusalem who remain in this land or go to stay in the land of Egypt.
9 I will euen giue them for a terrible plague to all the kingdomes of the earth, and for a reproche, and for a prouerbe, for a common talke, and for a curse, in all places where I shall cast them.
I will turn them into a frightening thing, a disaster, in the sight of all the kingdoms on earth, a disgrace and a subject for proverbs, taunts, and curses in every place where I will have driven them.
10 And I will sende the sworde, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they bee consumed out of the land, that I gaue vnto them and to their fathers.
I will send out sword, famine, and plague against them, until they are destroyed from the land that I gave them and their ancestors.”

< Jeremiah 24 >