Jeremiæ 24

1 Ostendit mihi Dominus: et ecce duo calathi pleni ficis, positi ante templum Domini, postquam transtulit Nabuchodonosor rex Babylonis Jechoniam filium Joakim, regem Juda, et principes ejus, et fabrum, et inclusorem, de Jerusalem, et adduxit eos in Babylonem.

The LORD showed me, and behold, two baskets of figs were set before the LORD’s temple, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

2 Calathus unus ficus bonas habebat nimis, ut solent ficus esse primi temporis: et calathus unus ficus habebat malas nimis, quæ comedi non poterant eo quod essent malæ.

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, they were so bad.

3 Et dixit Dominus ad me: Quid tu vides, Jeremia? Et dixi: Ficus, ficus bonas, bonas valde: et malas, malas valde, quæ comedi non possunt eo quod sint malæ.

Then the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad are very bad, so bad that they can’t be eaten.”

4 Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens:

The LORD’s word came to me, saying,

5 Hæc dicit Dominus Deus Israël: Sicut ficus hæ bonæ, sic cognoscam transmigrationem Juda, quam emisi de loco isto in terram Chaldæorum, in bonum.

“The LORD, the God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard the captives of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Kasdim, as good.

6 Et ponam oculos meos super eos ad placandum, et reducam eos in terram hanc: et ædificabo eos, et non destruam: et plantabo eos, et non evellam.

For I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them again to this land. I will build them, and not pull them down. I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

7 Et dabo eis cor ut sciant me, quia ego sum Dominus: et erunt mihi in populum, et ego ero eis in Deum, quia revertentur ad me in toto corde suo.

I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God; for they will return to me with their whole heart.

8 Et sicut ficus pessimæ quæ comedi non possunt eo quod sint malæ, hæc dicit Dominus: Sic dabo Sedeciam regem Juda, et principes ejus, et reliquos de Jerusalem, qui remanserunt in urbe hac, et qui habitant in terra Ægypti.

“‘As the bad figs, which can’t be eaten, they are so bad,’ surely the LORD says, ‘So I will give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt.

9 Et dabo eos in vexationem, afflictionemque omnibus regnis terræ, in opprobrium, et in parabolam, et in proverbium, et in maledictionem in universis locis ad quæ ejeci eos.

I will even give them up to be tossed back and forth amongst all the kingdoms of the earth for evil, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I will drive them.

10 Et mittam in eis gladium, et famem, et pestem, donec consumantur de terra quam dedi eis et patribus eorum.

I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence amongst them, until they are consumed from off the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.’”