Jeremiah 24

2 One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with figs that were spoiled and could not be eaten.

3 Then the LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I replied, "Figs, some very good and some very bad."

4 Then the LORD gave me this message:

5 "This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians.*²

6 I have sent them into captivity for their own good. I will see that they are well treated, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them.

7 I will give them hearts that will recognize me as the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.

8 "But the rotten figs," the LORD said, "represent King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, all the people left in Jerusalem, and those who live in Egypt. I will treat them like spoiled figs, too rotten to eat.

9 I will make them an object of horror and evil to every nation on earth. They will be disgraced and mocked, taunted and cursed, wherever I send them.

10 I will send war, famine, and disease until they have vanished from the land of Israel, which I gave to them and their ancestors."

Read Jeremiah 25

1: Hebrew Nebuchadrezzar, a variant name for Nebuchadnezzar.

2: Or Chaldeans.

^{New Living Translation Bible and Notes used with permission Tyndale House Publishers.}