Jeremiah 24

1 The Lord revealed to me, and behold, two baskets full of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, carried away Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and his leaders, and the craftsmen and engravers of Jerusalem, and led them into Babylon.

The Lord showed me two baskets of figs, lying in front of the temple of the Lord, after Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried captive Jechonias son of Joakim king of Juda, and the princes, and the artificers, and the prisoners, and the rich men out of Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

2 One basket had exceedingly good figs, like the figs usually found early in the season, and the other basket had exceedingly bad figs, which could not be eaten because they were so bad.

The one basket was [full] of very good figs, as the early figs; and the other basket was [full] of very bad figs, which could not be eaten, for their badness.

3 And the Lord said to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said: “Figs: the good figs are very good, and the bad figs are very bad and cannot be eaten because they are so bad.”

And the Lord said to me, What see you, Jeremias? and I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which can’t be eaten, for their badness.

4 And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,

5 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Just like these good figs, so will I regard as good the captives of Judah, whom I have sent from this place into the land of the Chaldeans.

Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel; As these good figs, so will I acknowledge the Jews that have been carried away captive, whom I have sent forth out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for good.

6 And I will set my eyes upon them, so as to be pleased. And I will lead them back into this land. And I will build them up, and I will not tear them down. And I will plant them, and I will not uproot them.

And I will fix mine eyes upon them for good, and I will restore them into this land for good: and I will build them up, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.

7 And I will give them a heart, so that they may know me, that I am the Lord. And they will be my people, and I will be their God. For they shall return to me with their whole heart.

And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be to me a people, and I will be to them a God: for they shall turn to me with all their heart.

8 And just like the very bad figs, which cannot be eaten because they are so bad, thus says the Lord: so will I regard Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his leaders, and the rest of Jerusalem, those who have remained in this city, and those who are living in the land of Egypt.

And as the bad figs, which can’t be eaten, for their badness; thus says the Lord, So will I deliver Sedekias king of Juda, and his nobles, and the remnant of Jerusalem, them that are left in this land, and the dwellers in Egypt.

9 And I will give them over, with upheaval and affliction, to all the kingdoms of the earth: to be a disgrace, and a parable, and a proverb, and a curse in all the places to which I have cast them out.

And I will cause them to be dispersed into all the kingdoms of the earth, and they shall be for a reproach, and a proverb, and an [object of] hatred, and a curse, in every place whither I have driven them out.

10 And I will send among them the sword, and famine, and pestilence: until they have been worn away from the land, which I gave to them and to their fathers.”

And I will send against them famine, and pestilence, and the sword, until they are consumed from off the land which I gave them.