Jeremiah 24

1 YHWH has showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs, appointed before the temple of YHWH—after the removing by Nebuchadnezzar 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 brings them into Babylon—

The Lord revealed to me, and behold, two baskets full of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, carried away Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and his leaders, and the craftsmen and engravers of Jerusalem, and led them into Babylon.

2 In one basket [are] very good figs, like the first-ripe figs, and in the other basket [are] very bad figs that are not eaten because of badness.

One basket had exceedingly good figs, like the figs usually found early in the season, and the other basket had exceedingly bad figs, which could not be eaten because they were so bad.

3 And YHWH says to me, “What are you seeing, Jeremiah?” And I say, “Figs, the good figs [are] very good, and the bad [are] very bad, that are not eaten because of badness.”

And the Lord said to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said: “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad figs are very bad and cannot be eaten because they are so bad.”

4 And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,

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

5 “Thus said YHWH, God of Israel: Like these good figs so I acknowledge The expulsion of Judah that I sent from this place, [To] the land of the Chaldeans—for good.

“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Just like these good figs, so will I regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent from this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

6 And I have set My eyes on them for good, And have brought them back to this land, And built them up, and I do not throw down, And have planted them, and do not pluck up.

And I will set my eyes upon them, so as to be pleased. And I will lead them back into this land. And I will build them up, and I will not tear them down. And I will plant them, and I will not uproot them.

7 And have given to them a heart to know Me, For I [am] YHWH, And they have been to Me for a people, And I am to them for God, For they turned back to Me with all their heart.

And I will give them a heart, so that they may know me, that I am the Lord. And they will 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 that are not eaten for badness, Surely thus said YHWH: So 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,

And just like the very bad figs, which cannot be eaten because they are so bad, thus says the Lord: so will I regard Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his leaders, and the rest of Jerusalem, those who have remained in this city, and those who are living in the land of Egypt.

9 And I have given them for a trembling, For evil—to all kingdoms of the earth, For a reproach, and for an allegory, For a byword, and for a reviling, In all the places to where I drive them.

And I will give them over, with upheaval and affliction, to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a disgrace, and a parable, and a proverb, and a curse in all the places to which I have cast them out.

10 And I have sent the sword against them, The famine and the pestilence, Until their consumption from off the ground, That I gave to them and to their fathers!”

And I will send among them the sword, and famine, and pestilence: until they have been worn away from the land, which I gave to them and to their fathers.”