< Jeremiah 24 >
1 The Lord caused me to see, and, behold, there were two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon had carried away into exile Yechonyahu the son of Yehoyakim the king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and the locksmiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
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 The 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, from being so bad.
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 Then said the Lord unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs: the good figs, are very good; and the bad ones, are very bad, which cannot be eaten, from being so bad.
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 And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Then came the word of Jehovah to me, saying:
5 Thus hath said the Lord, the God of Israel, Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge the exiles of Judah, whom I have sent away from this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.
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 And I will set my eye upon them for good, and I will cause them to return 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.
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 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be unto me for a people, and I will be unto them for God! for they will return unto me with all their heart.
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 And like the bad figs, which cannot be eaten, from being so bad, surely thus hath said the Lord, So I will render Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and those that dwell in the land of 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 And I will make them a horror because of [their] mishaps unto all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and a proverb, a byword and a curse, in all the places whither I will drive 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 And I will send out against them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, till they be destroyed from off the land that I had given unto them and to their fathers.
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.