The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 24 Through two baskets of figs, the future of the people is revealed

 The Book of the Prophet Jeremiah 24

Through two baskets of figs, the future of the people is revealed

1 The Lord showed me two baskets of figs, placed before the temple of the Lord, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah son of Jehoiachin, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, and the carpenters and smiths of Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.

2 One basket had very good figs, like early figs; but the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.

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, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad.”

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

5 Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: As I recognize these good figs, so I will recognize the exiles of Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans, for their good.

6 I will set my eyes on them for their 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 uproot them.

7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.

8 And as for the bad figs, which cannot be eaten because they are so bad (for thus says the Lord), so I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes, and the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those who dwell in the land of Egypt. 

9 I will deliver them up to be a terror, a scourge to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all places where I have driven them.

10 And I will send among them the sword, famine, and pestilence, until they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and to their fathers.