Jeremiah 24

1 Jehovah hath shewed me, and lo, two baskets of figs, appointed before the temple of Jehovah, — after the removing by Nebuchadrezzar 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 bringeth them into Babylon —

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.

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

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.

3 And Jehovah saith unto me, 'What art thou seeing, Jeremiah?' and I say, 'Figs, the good figs [are] very good, and the bad [are] very bad, that are not eaten for badness.'

“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.”

4 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying:

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

8 And like the bad figs, that are not eaten for badness, Surely thus said Jehovah: So do 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,

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.

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

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.

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

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.