The Sign of Two Baskets of Figs
1 TheLordshowed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of theLord, after Nebuchadnezzarking of Babylon had carried away captiveJeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah with the craftsmen and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 One baskethadvery good figs, like the figsthatarefirst ripe; and the other baskethadvery bad figs which could not be eaten, they were sobad.
3 Then theLordsaid to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?”
And I said, “Figs, the good figs, very good; and the bad, very bad, which cannot be eaten, they are so bad.”
4 Again the word of theLordcame to me, saying,
5 “Thus says theLord, the God of Israel: ‘Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place fortheirowngood, into the land of the Chaldeans.
6 For I will set My eyes on them for good, andI will bring them back to this land;I will build them and not pullthemdown, and I will plant them and not pluckthemup.
7 Then I will give thema heart to know Me, that IamtheLord; and they shall beMy people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Mewith their whole heart.
8 ‘And as the badfigs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad’—surely thus says theLord—‘so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, theresidue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, andthose who dwell in the land of Egypt.
9 I will deliver them totrouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, fortheirharm,tobea reproach and a byword, a taunt and a curse, in all places where I shall drive them.
10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence among them, till they are consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’ ”