Jeremiah 24
24
The Good and the Bad Figs
1The 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. 2One 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. 3And 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.”
4Then the word of the Lord came to me: 5Thus 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. 6I 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. 7I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord; and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.
8But 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. 9I 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. 10And 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.
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Jeremiah 24: NRSV
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Jeremiah 24
24
Jeremiah Has a Vision of Two Baskets of Figs
1 #
2 K 24.12-16; 2 Ch 36.10. The Lord spoke to me in a vision after King Nebuchadnezzar#24.1 Nebuchadnezzar: See the note at 21.2. of Babylonia had come to Judah and taken King Jehoiachin,#24.1 Jehoiachin: The Hebrew text has “Jeconiah,” another form of Jehoiachin's name; he ruled for three months in 598 b.c. his officials, and all the skilled workers back to Babylonia. In this vision I saw two baskets of figs in front of the Lord's temple. 2One basket was full of very good figs that ripened early, and the other was full of rotten figs that were not fit to eat.
3“Jeremiah,” the Lord asked, “what do you see?”
“Figs,” I said. “Some are very good, but the others are too rotten to eat.”
4Then the Lord told me to say:
5People of Judah, the good figs stand for those of you I sent away as exiles to Babylonia, 6where I am watching over them. Then someday I will bring them back to this land. I will plant them, instead of uprooting them, and I will build them up, rather than tearing them down. 7I will give them a desire to know me and to be my people. They will want me to be their God, and they will turn back to me with all their heart.
8The rotten figs stand for King Zedekiah#24.8 Zedekiah: Ruled 598–586 b.c. of Judah, his officials, and all the others who were not taken away to Babylonia, whether they stayed here in Judah or went to live in Egypt. 9I will punish them with a terrible disaster, and everyone on earth will tremble when they hear about it. I will force the people of Judah to go to foreign countries, where they will be cursed and insulted. 10War and hunger and disease will strike them, until they finally disappear from the land that I gave them and their ancestors.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.