² One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with bad figs that were too rotten to eat.

Misery Turned to Hope

Teaching about Salt and Light

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.

¹² “But you dishonor my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it’s all right to defile the Lord’s table. ¹³ You say, ‘It’s too hard to serve the Lord,’ and you turn up your noses at my commands,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “Think of it! Animals that are stolen and crippled and sick are being presented as offerings! Should I accept from you such offerings as these?” asks the Lord.

¹⁴ “Cursed is the cheat who promises to give a fine ram from his flock but then sacrifices a defective one to the Lord. For I am a great king,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “and my name is feared among the nations!

² “Son of man, how does a grapevine compare to a tree? Is a vine’s wood as useful as the wood of a tree? ³ Can its wood be used for making things, like pegs to hang up pots and pans? ⁴ No, it can only be used for fuel, and even as fuel, it burns too quickly. ⁵ Vines are useless both before and after being put into the fire!

⁵ “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians.^{[a] 6} I will watch over and care for them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. ⁷ I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.

⁸ “But the bad figs,” the Lord said, “represent King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem, and those who live in Egypt. I will treat them like bad figs, too rotten to eat. ⁹ I will make them an object of horror and a symbol of evil to every nation on earth. They will be disgraced and mocked, taunted and cursed, wherever I scatter them. ¹⁰ And I will send war, famine, and disease until they have vanished from the land of Israel, which I gave to them and their ancestors.”