International Standard Version | NET Bible |
1After Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had taken Jehoiakim's son Jeconiah, king of Judah, along with the officials of Judah, the craftsmen, and the smiths from Jerusalem into exile, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed right in front of the Temple of the LORD. | 1The LORD showed me two baskets of figs sitting before his temple. This happened after King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon deported Jehoiakim's son, King Jeconiah of Judah. He deported him and the leaders of Judah, along with the craftsmen and metal workers, and took them to Babylon. |
2One basket contained very good figs like the first figs that ripen on the tree. The other basket contained very bad figs that were too bad to be eaten. | 2One basket had very good-looking figs in it. They looked like those that had ripened early. The other basket had very bad-looking figs in it, so bad they could not be eaten. |
3The LORD told me, "What do you see?" I replied, "Figs. The good figs are very good, and the bad figs are very bad. They're too bad to be eaten." | 3The LORD said to me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "I see figs. The good ones look very good. But the bad ones look very bad, so bad that they cannot be eaten." |
4Then this message from the LORD came to me: | 4The LORD said to me, |
5"This is what the LORD God of Israel says: 'Like these good figs, so I'll regard as good the exiles of Judah whom I sent from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. | 5"I, the LORD, the God of Israel, say: 'The exiles whom I sent away from here to the land of Babylon are like those good figs. I consider them to be good. |
6I'll look at them with good intentions, and I'll bring them back to this land. I'll build them up. I won't tear them down; I'll plant them and not rip them up. | 6I will look after their welfare and will restore them to this land. There I will build them up and will not tear them down. I will plant them firmly in the land and will not uproot them. |
7I'll give them the ability to know me, for I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God when they return to me with all their heart. | 7I will give them the desire to acknowledge that I am the LORD. I will be their God and they will be my people. For they will wholeheartedly return to me.' |
8"'Like the bad figs that are too bad to be eaten—for this is what the LORD says—so I'll give up on Zedekiah king of Judah, along with his officials, the remnant of Jerusalem that is left in this land, and those living in the land of Egypt. | 8"I, the LORD, also solemnly assert: 'King Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the people who remain in Jerusalem or who have gone to live in Egypt are like those bad figs. I consider them to be just like those bad figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. |
9I'll make them into a horrifying sight to all the kingdoms of the earth; into a cause for contempt, into a byword, into a taunt, and into a curse in all the places to which I drive them. | 9I will bring such disaster on them that all the kingdoms of the earth will be horrified. I will make them an object of reproach, a proverbial example of disaster. I will make them an object of ridicule, an example to be used in curses. That is how they will be remembered wherever I banish them. |
10I'll send the sword, famine, and plague against them until they're completely destroyed from the land which I gave them and their ancestors.'" | 10I will bring war, starvation, and disease on them until they are completely destroyed from the land I gave them and their ancestors.'" |
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