Jeremiah 24

1 Yahweh shewed me, and lo! two baskets of figs, which had been set before the temple of Yahweh, —after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive, Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the princes of Judah and the carpenters and the smiths out of Jerusalem, and had brought them into Babylon: —

The Lord gave me a vision, and I saw two baskets full of figs put in front of the Temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, had taken prisoner Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the chiefs of Judah, and the expert workmen and metal-workers from Jerusalem, and had taken them to Babylon.

2 the one basket, was of very good figs, like the first-ripe figs; and, the other basket, was of very bad figs, which could not be eaten for badness.

One basket had very good figs, like the figs which first come to growth: and the other basket had very bad figs, so bad that they were of no use for food.

3 Then said Yahweh unto me, —What canst thou see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs: the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, for badness.

Then the Lord said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs are very good, and the bad very bad, and of no use for food, they are so bad.

4 Then came the word of Yahweh unto me, saying:

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

5 Thus, saith Yahweh God of Israel, Like these good figs, so, will I regard them of Judah who are carried into captivity, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans, for good.

This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said: Like these good figs, so in my eyes will be the prisoners of Judah, whom I have sent from this place into the land of the Chaldaeans for their good.

6 Therefore will I set mine eye upon them for good, and will bring them back upon this land, —and will build them up, and not pull them down, and will plant them and not root them up;

For I will keep my eyes on them for good, and I will take them back again to this land, building them up and not pulling them down, planting them and not uprooting them.

7 and will give them a heart to know, me, that, I, am Yahweh, So shall they become my people, And, I, will become their God; for they will return unto me with all their heart.

And I will give them a heart to have knowledge of me, that I am the Lord: and they will be my people, and I will be their God: for they will come back to me with all their heart.

8 And like the bad figs, which cannot be eaten for badness, Surely thus, saith Yahweh—so, will I deliver up Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes and the remnant of Jerusalem that remain in this land, and them who are dwelling in the land of Egypt;

And like the bad figs which are so bad that they are of no use for food, so I will give up Zedekiah, king of Judah, and his chiefs and the rest of Jerusalem who are still in this land, and those who are in the land of Egypt:

9 yea I will deliver them up, as a terror of calamity, to all the kingdoms of the earth, —as a reproach and as a byword, as a mockery and as a contempt, in every place whither I will drive them;

I will give them up to be a cause of fear and of trouble among all the kingdoms of the earth; to be a name of shame and common talk and a cutting word and a curse in all the places wherever I will send them wandering.

10 and I will send among them, sword famine and pestilence, —until they are consumed from off the soil which I gave to them and to their fathers.

And I will send the sword, and need of food, and disease, among them till they are all cut off from the land which I gave to them and to their fathers.