Then the word of the Lord came to me: “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(A) away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.[a] My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back(B) to this land. I will build(C) them up and not tear them down; I will plant(D) them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know(E) me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people,(F) and I will be their God, for they will return(G) to me with all their heart.(H)

“‘But like the bad(I) figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the Lord, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah(J) king of Judah, his officials(K) and the survivors(L) from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.(M) I will make them abhorrent(N) and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword,(O) a curse[b](P) and an object of ridicule, wherever I banish(Q) them. 10 I will send the sword,(R) famine(S) and plague(T) against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.(U)’”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 24:5 Or Chaldeans
  2. Jeremiah 24:9 That is, their names will be used in cursing (see 29:22); or, others will see that they are cursed.

Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,

Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.

For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.

And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:

And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.

10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

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