⁷ So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and took it from the place where I had hidden it, but now it was ruined and completely useless.

¹¹ Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.

³⁴ “Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?^{(A) 35} It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.^(B)

“Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”^(C)

³ Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. ⁴ The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”

Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin,^(A) and I will put fine garments^(B) on you.”

³ Is wood ever taken from it to make anything useful?^(A) Do they make pegs^(B) from it to hang things on? ⁴ And after it is thrown on the fire as fuel and the fire burns both ends and chars the middle, is it then useful for anything?^{(C) 5} If it was not useful for anything when it was whole, how much less can it be made into something useful when the fire has burned it and it is charred?

Two Baskets of Figs

24 After Jehoiachin^[a](A) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs^(B) placed in front of the temple of the Lord. ² One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early;^(C) the other basket had very bad^(D) figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

³ Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see,^(E) Jeremiah?”

“Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”

⁴ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁵ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent^(F) away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.^{[b] 6} My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back^(G) to this land. I will build^(H) them up and not tear them down; I will plant^(I) them and not uproot them. ⁷ I will give them a heart to know^(J) me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people,^(K) and I will be their God, for they will return^(L) to me with all their heart.^(M)

⁸ “‘But like the bad^(N) figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah^(O) king of Judah, his officials^(P) and the survivors^(Q) from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.^(R)

¹⁰ These wicked people, who refuse to listen^(A) to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts^(B) and go after other gods^(C) to serve and worship them,^(D) will be like this belt—completely useless!^(E)