Dual Panel1The Lord <03068> showed <07200> me two <08147> baskets <01736> of figs <08384> sitting <03259> before <06440> his <03068> temple <01964>. This happened after <0310> King <04428> Nebuchadnezzar <05019> of Babylon <0894> deported <01540> Jehoiakim’s <03079> son <01121>, King <04428> Jeconiah <03204> of Judah <03063>. He deported him and the leaders <08269> of Judah <03063>, along with <0854> the craftsmen <02796> and <0854> metal workers <04525>, and took <0935> them to Babylon <0894>.
2One <0259> basket <01731> had very <03966> good-looking <02896> figs <08384> in it. They looked like those that had ripened early <01073>. The other <0259> basket <01731> had very <03966> bad-looking <07451> figs <08384> in it, so bad <07455> they could not <03808> be eaten <0398>.
3The Lord <03068> said <0559> to <0413> me, “What <04100> do you <0859> see <07200>, Jeremiah <03414>?” I answered <0559>, “I see figs <08384>. The good <02896> ones <08384> look very <03966> good <02896>. But the bad <07451> ones look very <03966> bad <07451>, so <0834> bad <07455> that they cannot <03808> be eaten <0398>.”
4The Lord <03068> said <0559> to <0413> me,
5“I, the Lord <03068>, the God <0430> of Israel <03478>, say <0559>: ‘The exiles <01546> whom <0834> I sent away <07971> from <04480> here <02088> to the land <0776> of Babylon <03778> are like <03651> those <0428> good <02896> figs <08384>. I consider <05234> them to be good <02896>.
6I will look after <05921> <05869> <07760> their welfare <02896> and will restore <07725> them to <05921> this <02063> land <0776>. There I will build <01129> them up <01129> and will not <03808> tear <02040> them down. I will plant <05193> them firmly in the land and will not <03808> uproot <05428> them.
7I will give <05414> them the desire <03820> to acknowledge <03045> that <03588> I <0589> am the Lord <03068>. I <0595> will be <01961> their God <0430> and they will be <01961> my people <05971>. For <03588> they will wholeheartedly <03820> <03605> return <07725> to <0413> me.’
8“I, the Lord <03068>, also solemnly assert <0559>: ‘King <04428> Zedekiah <06667> of Judah <03063>, his officials <08269>, and the people <07611> who remain <07604> in Jerusalem <03389> or who have gone to live <03427> in Egypt <04714> are like those bad figs. I consider them to be just like those bad <07451> figs <08384> that <0834> are so bad <07455> they cannot <03808> be eaten <0398>.
9I will bring <05414> such disaster <07451> on them that all <03605> the kingdoms <04467> of the earth <0776> will be horrified <02113>. I will make them an object of reproach <02781>, a proverbial example <04912> of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule <08148>, an example to be used in curses <07045>. That <0834> is how they will be remembered wherever <04725> <03605> I banish <05080> them.
10I will bring <07971> war <02719>, starvation <07458>, and disease <01698> on them until <05704> they are completely destroyed <08552> from <05921> the land <0127> I gave <05414> them <01992> and their ancestors <01>.’”