Jeremiah 24
Good News Translation
Two Baskets of Figs
24 (A)The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the Temple. (This was after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia had taken away Jehoiakim's son, King Jehoiachin of Judah, as a prisoner from Jerusalem to Babylonia, together with the leaders of Judah, the craftworkers, and the skilled workers.) 2 The first basket contained good figs, those that ripen early; the other one contained bad figs, too bad to eat. 3 Then the Lord said to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”
I answered, “Figs. The good ones are very good, and the bad ones are very bad, too bad to eat.”
4 So the Lord said to me, 5 “I, the Lord, the God of Israel, consider that the people who were taken away to Babylonia are like these good figs, and I will treat them with kindness. 6 I will watch over them and bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not pull them up. 7 I will give them the desire to know that I am the Lord. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me with all their heart.
8 “As for King Zedekiah of Judah, the politicians around him, and the rest of the people of Jerusalem who have stayed in this land or moved to Egypt—I, the Lord, will treat them all like these figs that are too bad to be eaten. 9 I will bring such a disaster on them that all the nations of the world will be terrified. People will make fun of them, make jokes about them, ridicule them, and use their name as a curse everywhere I scatter them. 10 I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them until there is not one of them left in the land that I gave to them and their ancestors.”
Jeremiah 24
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Good and the Bad Figs
24 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord. This was after King Nebuchadrezzar of Babylon had taken into exile from Jerusalem King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, together with the officials of Judah, the artisans, and the smiths, and had brought them to Babylon.(A) 2 One basket had very good figs, like first-ripe figs, but the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten.(B) 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.”(C)
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 whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 I will set my eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not pluck them up.(D) 7 I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with their whole heart.(E)
8 But thus says the Lord: Like the bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten, so will I treat King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt.(F) 9 I will make them a horror, an evil thing, to all the kingdoms of the earth—a disgrace, a byword, a taunt, and a curse in all the places where I shall drive them.(G) 10 And I will send sword, famine, and pestilence upon them until they are utterly destroyed from the land that I gave to them and their ancestors.(H)
Jeremiah 24
Complete Jewish Bible
24 It was after N’vukhadretzar king of Bavel had carried Y’khanyahu the son of Y’hoyakim, king of Y’hudah, along with the leaders of Y’hudah, the artisans and the skilled workers into exile from Yerushalayim and brought them to Bavel, that Adonai gave me a vision. There, in front of the temple of Adonai, two baskets of figs were placed. 2 One of the baskets had in it very good figs, like those that ripen first; while the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they were inedible. 3 Then Adonai asked me, “Yirmeyahu, what do you see?” I answered, “Figs — the good figs are very good; but the bad ones are very bad, so bad they are inedible.” 4 The word of Adonai came to me: 5 “Here is what Adonai the God of Isra’el says: ‘I will regard the exiles from Y’hudah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Kasdim, as good, just as I do these good figs.
6 “‘I will look after them for their good,
I will bring them back to this land;
I will build them up and not tear them down,
plant them and not pull them up.
7 I will give them a heart to know me
that I am Adonai.
They will be my people,
and I will be their God;
for they will return to me
with all their heart.’
8 “But concerning the bad figs that are so bad as to be inedible, Adonai says: ‘I will make Tzidkiyahu the king of Y’hudah and his leaders resemble them, likewise the rest of Yerushalayim remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. 9 Everywhere I drive them I will make them an object of horror, repulsive to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace, a byword, a laughingstock and a curse; 10 and I will send sword, famine and plague among them until they have disappeared from the land I gave them and their ancestors.’”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.