The Good and the Bad Figs
1 After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported Jeconiahson of Jehoiakim king of Judah, the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen and metalsmithsfrom Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, theLordshowed me two baskets of figsplaced before the temple of theLord.
2 One basket contained very good figs, like early figs,but the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they were inedible.
3 TheLordsaid to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah? ” I said, “Figs! The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are extremely bad, so bad they are inedible.”
4 The word of theLordcame to me:
5 “This is what theLord, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.
6 I will keep My eyes on them for their goodand will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them.
7 I will give them a heart to know Me,that I am Yahweh. They will be My people, and I will be their God because they will return to Me with all their heart.
8 “But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible,this is what theLordsays: in this way I will deal with king Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem — those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt.
9 I will make them an object of horrorand disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace, an object of scorn, ridicule,and cursing, wherever I have banished them.
10 I will send the sword, famine, and plagueagainst them until they have perished from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.”
—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/JER/24-5666ebcc887b0aabffe8aa17527cf634.mp3?version_id=72—