Jeremiah 24

The Good and the Bad Figs

¹After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had deported Jeconiah ^a son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen and metalsmiths ^b from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs ^c placed in front of the temple of the Lord. ²One basket contained very good figs, like early figs, ^d but the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they were inedible. ³The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah? ”

I said, “Figs! The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are extremely bad, so bad they are inedible.”

⁴The word of the Lord came to me: ⁵“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. ⁶I will keep my eyes on them for their good ^e and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them. ^{f 7}I will give them a heart to know me, ^g that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God because they will return to me with all their heart. ^h

⁸“But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible, ⁱ this is what the Lord says: In this way I will deal with King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem #— #those remaining in this land or living in the land of Egypt. ^{j 9}I will make them an object of horror ^k and a disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, an example for disgrace, scorn, ridicule, ^l and cursing, wherever I have banished them. ^{m 10}I will send the sword, famine, and plague ⁿ against them until they have perished from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.”