JeremiahChapter 24
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1Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah away from Jerusalem. He had also taken the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalworkers. He had brought them to Babylon. After that, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs. They were set in front of the temple of the LORD. 2One basket had very good figs, like figs that ripen early. But the other basket had very bad figs. They were so bad that no one could eat them. 3The LORD asked, "Jeremiah, what do you see?" "Figs!" I answered. "The good figs are very good. But the bad figs are very bad. They are so bad that no one can eat them." 4Then the LORD gave me this message: 5"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'The captives from Judah are like these good figs. I see them as good. I have sent them away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6I will watch over them for their good. I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not pull them up. 7I will give them a heart to know me, to know that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God. For they will come back to me with all their heart. 8But the others are like the bad figs, so bad that no one can eat them,' says the LORD. 'I will treat them that way. I mean Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the rest of the people of Jerusalem. That includes those left in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. 9I will make them a horror and a hated thing to all the kingdoms of the earth. In every place where I have driven them, they will be a shame. People will make fun of them, laugh at them, and curse them. 10I will send the sword, hunger, and plague against them. I will do this until they are gone from the land I gave to them and their fathers.'"