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 me, 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. ⁹ I will make them ^(R)a horror^[a] to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be ^(S)a reproach, ^(T)a byword, ^(U)a taunt, and ^(V)a curse in all the places where I shall drive them. ¹⁰ And I will send ^(W)sword, famine, and pestilence upon them, until they shall be utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.”

Seventy Years of Captivity

25 ^(X)The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah, in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon), ² which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ³ “For twenty-three years, ^(Y)from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken ^(Z)persistently to you, ^(AA)but you have not listened. ^4 (AB)You have neither listened nor inclined your ears to hear, although the Lord ^(AC)persistently sent to you all his servants the prophets, ⁵ saying, ^(AD)‘Turn now, every one of you, ^(AE)from his evil way and evil deeds, and ^(AF)dwell upon the land that the Lord has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. ^6 (AG)Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, ^(AH)or provoke me to anger ^(AI)with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.’ ^7 (AJ)Yet you have not listened to me, declares the Lord, ^(AK)that you might provoke me to anger ^(AL)with the work of your hands to your own harm.

⁸ “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, ^9 (AM)behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, ^(AN)my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, ^(AO)and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. ¹⁰ Moreover, ^(AP)I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, ^(AQ)the grinding of the millstones and ^(AR)the light of the lamp. ^11 (AS)This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and ^(AT)these nations shall serve the king of Babylon ^(AU)seventy years. ¹² Then after ^(AV)seventy years are completed, ^(AW)I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, ^(AX)the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, ^(AY)making the land an everlasting waste. ¹³ I will bring upon that land all the words that I have uttered against it, everything written ^(AZ)in this book, which Jeremiah prophesied against all the nations. ^14 (BA)For many nations ^(BB)and great kings shall make slaves even of them, ^(BC)and I will recompense them according to their deeds and the work of their hands.”

Come to Our Help

To the choirmaster. ^(A)A Maskil^[a] of the Sons of Korah.

4 Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem ^(A)to have failed to reach it. ² For good news came to us just as to them, but the message they heard did not benefit them, because ^(B)they were not united by faith with those who listened.^{[a] 3} For we who have believed enter that rest, as he has said,

although his works were finished from the foundation of the world. ⁴ For he has somewhere spoken of the seventh day in this way: ^(D)“And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” ⁵ And again in this passage he said,

⁶ Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news ^(F)failed to enter because of disobedience, ⁷ again he appoints a certain day, “Today,” saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted,

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, God^[b] would not have spoken of another day later on. ⁹ So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, ¹⁰ for whoever has entered God's rest has also ^(H)rested from his works as God did from his.

¹¹ Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so ^(I)that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. ¹² For ^(J)the word of God is living and ^(K)active, ^(L)sharper than any ^(M)two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and ^(N)discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And ^(O)no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are ^(P)naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Jesus the Great High Priest

¹⁴ Since then we have ^(Q)a great high priest ^(R)who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, ^(S)let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest ^(T)who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been ^(U)tempted as we are, ^(V)yet without sin. ^16 (W)Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

5 For every high priest chosen from among men ^(X)is appointed to act on behalf of men ^(Y)in relation to God, ^(Z)to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. ^2 (AA)He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself ^(AB)is beset with weakness. ³ Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins ^(AC)just as he does for those of the people. ⁴ And ^(AD)no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, ^(AE)just as Aaron was.

⁵ So also Christ ^(AF)did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him,

⁶ as he says also in another place,

⁷ In the days of his flesh, ^(AI)Jesus^[c] offered up prayers and supplications, ^(AJ)with loud cries and tears, to him ^(AK)who was able to save him from death, and ^(AL)he was heard because of his reverence. ⁸ Although ^(AM)he was a son, ^(AN)he learned obedience through what he suffered. ⁹ And ^(AO)being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, ¹⁰ being designated by God a high priest ^(AP)after the order of Melchizedek.

Warning Against Apostasy

¹¹ About this we have much to say, and it is ^(AQ)hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. ¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again ^(AR)the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need ^(AS)milk, not solid food, ¹³ for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is ^(AT)a child. ¹⁴ But solid food is for ^(AU)the mature, for those who have their powers ^(AV)of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

6 Therefore ^(AW)let us leave ^(AX)the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance ^(AY)from dead works and of faith toward God, ² and of ^(AZ)instruction about washings,^{[d] (BA)}the laying on of hands, ^(BB)the resurrection of the dead, and ^(BC)eternal judgment. ³ And this we will do ^(BD)if God permits. ⁴ For it is impossible, in the case of those ^(BE)who have once been enlightened, who have tasted ^(BF)the heavenly gift, and ^(BG)have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and ^(BH)have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ and ^(BI)then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since ^(BJ)they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ⁷ For ^(BK)land that has drunk the rain that often falls on it, and produces a crop useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. ⁸ But ^(BL)if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, ^(BM)and its end is to be burned.

⁹ Though we speak in this way, yet in your case, beloved, we feel sure of better things—things that belong to salvation. ¹⁰ For ^(BN)God is not unjust so as to overlook ^(BO)your work and the love that you have shown for his name in ^(BP)serving the saints, as you still do. ¹¹ And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance ^(BQ)of hope until the end, ¹² so that you may not be sluggish, but ^(BR)imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

The Certainty of God's Promise

¹³ For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, ^(BS)he swore by himself, ¹⁴ saying, ^(BT)“Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” ¹⁵ And thus Abraham,^{[e] (BU)}having patiently waited, obtained the promise. ¹⁶ For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes ^(BV)an oath is final for confirmation. ¹⁷ So when God desired to show more convincingly to ^(BW)the heirs of the promise ^(BX)the unchangeable character of his purpose, ^(BY)he guaranteed it with an oath, ¹⁸ so that by two unchangeable things, in which ^(BZ)it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope ^(CA)set before us. ¹⁹ We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into ^(CB)the inner place behind the curtain, ²⁰ where Jesus has gone ^(CC)as a forerunner on our behalf, ^(CD)having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.