⁷ Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took ^(A)the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was ^(B)spoiled; it was ^(C)good for nothing.

¹¹ (Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.)

Salt Without Taste Is Worthless

^34 (A)“Salt is good, ^(B)but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? ³⁵ It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. ^(C)He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

³ Now ^(A)Joshua was standing before the angel, ^(B)clothed with filthy garments. ⁴ And the angel said to ^(C)those who were standing before him, ^(D)“Remove the filthy garments from him.” And to him he said, “Behold, ^(E)I have taken your iniquity away from you, and ^(F)I will clothe you with pure vestments.”

³ Is wood taken from it to make anything? Do people take ^(A)a peg from it to hang any vessel on it? ^4 (B)Behold, it is given to the fire for fuel. When the fire has consumed both ends of it, and the middle of it is charred, is it useful for anything? ^5 (C)Behold, when it was whole, it was used for nothing. How much less, when the fire has consumed it and it is charred, can it ever be used for anything!

The Good Figs and the Bad Figs

24 ^(A)After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem ^(B)Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, together with ^(C)the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the metal workers, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me this vision: behold, ^(D)two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. ² One basket had very good figs, ^(E)like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had ^(F)very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. ³ And the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I said, “Figs, the good figs very good, and the bad figs very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁵ “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, ^(G)whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. ^6 (H)I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. ^(I)I will build them up, and not tear them down; ^(J)I will plant them, and not pluck them up. ^7 (K)I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, ^(L)and they shall be my people ^(M)and I will be their God, ^(N)for they shall return to me with their whole heart.

⁸ “But thus says the Lord: Like ^(O)the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat ^(P)Zedekiah the king of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who ^(Q)dwell in the land of Egypt.

¹⁰ This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, ^(A)who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is ^(B)good for nothing.