< Jeremiah 24 >

1 Yahweh shewed me, and lo! two baskets of figs, which had been set before the temple of Yahweh, —after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive, Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the princes of Judah and the carpenters and the smiths out of Jerusalem, and had brought them into Babylon: —
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—
2 the one basket, was of very good figs, like the first-ripe figs; and, the other basket, was of very bad figs, which could not be eaten for badness.
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.
3 Then said Yahweh unto me, —What canst thou see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs: the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, for badness.
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.”
4 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me, saying:
And there is a word of YHWH to me, saying,
5 Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, Like these good figs, so, will I regard them of Judah who are carried into captivity, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.
“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.
6 Therefore will I set mine eye upon them for good, and will bring them back upon this land, —and will build them up, and not pull them down, and will plant them and not root them up;
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.
7 and will give them a heart to know, me, that, I, am Yahweh, So shall they become my people, And, I, will become their God; for they will return unto me with all their heart.
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.
8 And like the bad figs, which cannot be eaten for badness, Surely thus, saith Yahweh—so, will I deliver up Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes and the remnant of Jerusalem that remain in this land, and them who are dwelling in the land of Egypt;
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,
9 yea I will deliver them up, as a terror of calamity, to all the kingdoms of the earth, —as a reproach and as a byword, as a mockery and as a contempt, in every place whither I will drive them;
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.
10 and I will send among them, sword famine and pestilence, —until they are consumed from off the soil which I gave to them and to their fathers.
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!”

< Jeremiah 24 >