Jeremiah 24
Lexham English Bible
Two Baskets of Figs
24 Yahweh showed me, and look, there were two baskets of figs placed before[a] the temple of Yahweh—after Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, with the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen, and the smiths,[b] from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon. 2 The one basket had very good figs, like early figs,[c] and the other basket had very bad figs that could not be eaten because of their bad quality. 3 And Yahweh asked me, “What are you seeing, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs—the good figs, very good, and the bad figs, very bad, that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality.”
4 Then the word of Yahweh came to me, saying,[d] 5 “Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles[e] of Judah whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6 For I will set my eyes[f] on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. And I will build them and not annihilate them, and I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 And I will give to them a heart to know me, that I am Yahweh, and they will be my people,[g] and I will be their God,[h] for they will return to me with the whole of their heart.
8 But like the bad figs that cannot be eaten because of their bad quality—for thus says Yahweh—so I will treat Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt. 9 And I will make them as a terror, an evil to all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, as a taunt and a curse, in all the places where I will drive them. 10 And I will send among them the sword, the famine, and the plague, until they perish from the land that I gave to them and their ancestors.’”[i]
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 24:1 Literally “to the face of”
- Jeremiah 24:1 Hebrew “smith”
- Jeremiah 24:2 Literally “the figs of the early ripened fruit”
- Jeremiah 24:4 Literally “to say”
- Jeremiah 24:5 Hebrew “exile”
- Jeremiah 24:6 Hebrew “eye”
- Jeremiah 24:7 Literally “they shall be for me as a people”
- Jeremiah 24:7 Literally “I will be for them as God”
- Jeremiah 24:10 Or “fathers”
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)
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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.