Old/New Testament
The Two Baskets of Figs
24 After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the leaders of Judah, together with the able workmen from Jerusalem, and brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs set in front of the house of the Lord. 2 One basket had very good figs, like figs just ready to eat. And the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they could not be eaten. 3 Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And 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, saying, 5 “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘Like these good figs, so will I think of the people of Judah as being good, whom I have sent away from this place into the land of the Babylonians. 6 For I will keep My eyes on them for their good, and I will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not pull them up by the roots. 7 And I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord. They will be My people and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.’
8 “But the Lord says, ‘Like the bad figs which are so bad they cannot be eaten, so I will give up Zedekiah king of Judah and his captains. And I will give up those left of Jerusalem who stay in this land, and those who live in the land of Egypt. 9 I will make them a cause of fear and trouble for all the nations of the earth. They will be a shame and a curse and spoken against in all the places where I will make them go. 10 And I will send the sword and hunger and disease upon them until they are destroyed from the land which I gave to them and their fathers.’”
Seventy Years of Not Being Free
25 This is the word that came to Jeremiah about 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 Jeremiah the man of God spoke this word to all the people of Judah and Jerusalem, saying, 3 “These twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, until this day, the Word of the Lord has come to me. And I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. 4 The Lord has sent to you all his servants who have spoken for Him again and again, but you have not listened or turned your ear to hear. 5 They have said, ‘Every one of you turn now from your sinful way and the sinful things you do, and live on the land which the Lord has given to you and your fathers forever and ever. 6 Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them. Do not make Me angry with the work you do, and I will not hurt you.’ 7 Yet you have not listened to Me,” says the Lord. “You have made Me angry with the work of your hands to your own hurt. 8 “So the Lord of All says, ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, 9 I will send for all the families of the north. And I will send for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its people, and against all these nations around you. I will make a complete end of them. I will destroy them all and make them an object of fear and hate, and a waste place forever. 10 I will also take from them the voice of joy, the voice of happiness, the voice of the man to be married and the voice of the bride. I will take from them the sound of the grinding stones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land will be a waste and a cause of fear. And these nations will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years.
12 ‘Then when seventy years have past, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, and the land of the Babylonians, for their sin,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will make that land a waste forever. 13 I will bring upon that land all My words which I have spoken against it, all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah has spoken against all the nations. 14 They themselves will be made to serve many nations and great kings. I will pay them for what they have done, and for the work of their hands.’”
The Cup of God’s Anger
15 For the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me, “Take this cup of the wine of anger from My hand. And make all the nations to whom I send you drink it. 16 They will drink and have trouble walking and become crazy because of the sword that I will send among them.” 17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand, and made all the nations to whom the Lord sent me drink it. 18 I was sent to Jerusalem and to the cities of Judah, to its kings and its leaders, to make them a waste, an object of fear and hate, and a curse, as it is this day. 19 I was sent to Pharaoh king of Egypt, his servants, his sons, and to all his people. 20 I was sent to all the people from different countries, all the kings of the land of Uz, and to all the kings of the land of the Philistines (Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and those left of Ashdod). 21 I was sent to Edom, Moab, the sons of Ammon, 22 and to all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon, and to the kings of the lands across the sea. 23 I was sent to Dedan, Tema, Buz, to all who are far away in their lands, 24 to the kings of Arabia, and to all the kings of the different people who live in the desert. 25 I was sent to all the kings of Zimri, all the kings of Elam, all the kings of Media, 26 and to all the kings of the north, near and far, one after another. I was sent to all the nations on the earth. And after them the king of Sheshach will drink.
27 “Then you will say to them, ‘The Lord of All, the God of Israel, says, “Drink, be drunk, throw up, fall, and get up no more, because of the sword which I will send among you.”’ 28 And if they will not take the cup from your hand to drink, then say to them, ‘The Lord of All says, “You must drink! 29 See, I am beginning to make trouble in this city which is called by My name. And will you not be punished? You will not be free from punishment, for I am bringing a sword against all the people of the earth,” says the Lord of All.’
30 “So you should speak all these words against them. Tell them, ‘The Lord will sound from on high. His voice will be heard from His holy place. He will call out in a loud voice against his flock. He will call out like those who crush the grapes, against all the people of the earth. 31 The noise will go to the ends of the earth, because the Lord has something against the nations. He is deciding what should be done with all flesh. As for the sinful, He has given them to the sword,’” says the Lord.
32 The Lord of All says, “See, sinful ways are spreading from nation to nation. A powerful storm is moving from the farthest parts of the earth. 33 Those killed by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. No one will cry for them or gather up the bodies and bury them. They will be like animal waste on the ground. 34 Cry in a loud voice, you shepherds. And roll in ashes, you leaders of the flock. For the days for you to be killed and sent everywhere have come, and you will fall and be broken like a fine pot. 35 The shepherds will have no place to run. And the leaders of the flock will have no place to get away. 36 Listen to the cry of the shepherds and the loud cry of the leaders of the flock! For the Lord is destroying their field. 37 The fields of peace are laid waste because of the burning anger of the Lord. 38 He has left His hiding place like a lion. For their land has become a cause of much fear because of the sword of the one who makes it hard for them, and because of the Lord’s burning anger.”
Jeremiah’s Trial
26 In the beginning of the rule of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, this word came from the Lord, saying, 2 “This is what the Lord says: ‘Stand in the open space of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah who have come to worship in the Lord’s house. Tell them all the words that I have told you to say to them. Do not leave out one word! 3 It may be they will listen and everyone will turn from his sinful way. Then I may change My mind about the trouble I plan to put on them because of the sinful things they have done.’ 4 And tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: “If you will not listen to Me and follow My Law which I have set before you, 5 and if you do not listen to the words of My servants who speak for Me, whom I have been sending to you again and again, but you have not listened, 6 then I will make this House of God like Shiloh. And I will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth.”’”
7 The religious leaders and the men of God and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had told him to speak to all the people, the religious leaders and men of God and all the people took hold of him, saying, “You must die! 9 Why have you spoken in the name of the Lord saying, ‘This house will be like Shiloh, and this city will be laid waste with no one living in it’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the Lord.
10 When the leaders of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and sat beside the New Gate of the Lord’s house. 11 Then the religious leaders and men of God said to the leaders and to all the people, “This man must die! For he has spoken against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.” 12 Then Jeremiah said to all the leaders and to all the people, “The Lord sent me to speak against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. 13 So now change your ways and your works, and obey the voice of the Lord your God. Then the Lord will change His mind about the trouble He has said would come to you. 14 But as for me, see, I am in your hands. Do with me what is good and right in your eyes. 15 Only know for sure that if you put me to death, you will bring the sin of killing a man who is not guilty on yourselves, on this city, and on its people. For it is true that the Lord has sent me to you to speak all these words for you to hear.”
16 Then the leaders and all the people said to the religious leaders and men of God, “No, this man should not be put to death! For he has spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God.” 17 Then some of the leaders of the land stood up and said to all the people who had gathered, 18 “Micah of Moresheth spoke in God’s name in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah. He said to all the people of Judah, ‘This is what the Lord of All has said: Zion will be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem will be destroyed. And trees will cover the mountain where the Lord’s house is.’ 19 Did King Hezekiah of Judah and all the people of Judah put him to death? Did he not fear the Lord and pray for the Lord’s favor? And the Lord changed His mind about the trouble He had said would come to them. But we are about to bring a very bad thing on ourselves.”
20 There was another man who spoke in the name of the Lord. He was Uriah the son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He spoke against this city and against this land in words like those of Jeremiah. 21 When King Jehoiakim and all his powerful men and all his leaders heard his words, the king wanted to put Uriah to death. But Uriah heard about it, and he was afraid and ran away to Egypt. 22 Then King Jehoiakim sent Elnathan the son of Achbor and certain men with him to Egypt. 23 And they took Uriah from Egypt and brought him to King Jehoiakim, who killed him with a sword. Then he threw his dead body where most people are buried.
24 But Ahikam the son of Shaphan helped Jeremiah, so that he was not given over to the people to be put to death.
Right Teaching
2 You must teach what is right and true. 2 Older men are to be quiet and to be careful how they act. They are to be the boss over their own desires. Their faith and love are to stay strong and they are not to give up. 3 Teach older women to be quiet and to be careful how they act also. They are not to go around speaking bad things about others or things that are not true. They are not to be chained by strong drink. They should teach what is good.
4 Older women are to teach the young women to love their husbands and children. 5 They are to teach them to think before they act, to be pure, to be workers at home, to be kind, and to obey their own husbands. In this way, the Word of God is honored. 6 Also teach young men to be wise. 7 In all things show them how to live by your life and by right teaching. 8 You should be wise in what you say. Then the one who is against you will be ashamed and will not be able to say anything bad about you.
9 Those who are servants owned by someone must obey their owners and please them in everything. They must not argue. 10 They must not steal from their owners but prove they can be trusted in every way. In this way, their lives will honor the teaching of God Who saves us.
11 God’s free gift of being saved is being given to everyone. 12 We are taught to have nothing to do with that which is against God. We are to have nothing to do with the desires of this world. We are to be wise and to be right with God. We are to live God-like lives in this world. 13 We are to be looking for the great hope and the coming of our great God and the One Who saves, Christ Jesus. 14 He gave Himself for us. He did this by buying us with His blood and making us free from all sin. He gave Himself so His people could be clean and want to do good. 15 Teach all these things and give words of help. Show them if they are wrong. You have the right and the power to do this. Do not let anyone think little of you.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.