Jeremiah 24

New King James Version

The Sign of Two Baskets of Figs

24 The^(A)Lordshowed me, and there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of theLord, after Nebuchadnezzar^(B)king of Babylon had carried away captive^(C)Jeconiah 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 figsthat arefirst ripe; and the other baskethadvery bad figs which could not be eaten, they were so^(D)bad.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^[a]acknowledge those who are carried away captive from Judah, whom I have sent out of this place fortheir owngood, into the land of the Chaldeans.⁶ For I will set My eyes on them for good, and^(E)I will bring them back to this land;^(F)I will build them and not pullthemdown, and I will plant them and not pluckthemup.⁷ Then I will give them^(G)a heart to know Me, that IamtheLord; and they shall be^(H)My people, and I will be their God, for they shall return to Me^(I)with their whole heart.

⁸ ‘And as the bad^(J)figs which cannot be eaten, they are so bad’—surely thus says theLord—‘so will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, his princes, the^(K)residue of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and^(L)those who dwell in the land of Egypt.⁹ I will deliver them to^(M)trouble into all the kingdoms of the earth, fortheirharm,^(N)to bea 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^[b]consumed from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’ ”