1After Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had deported Jeconiah = Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, the officials of Judah, and the craftsmen and metalsmiths 2Kg 24:14,16; Jr 29:2 from Jerusalem and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs Am 8:1 placed before the temple of the Lord.

2One basket contained very good figs, like early figs, Is 28:4; Hs 9:10; Mc 7:1 but the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they were inedible.

3The Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah? ” I said, “Figs! The good figs are very good, but the bad figs are extremely bad, so bad they are inedible.”

4The word of the Lord came to me:

5“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah I sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans.

6I will keep My eyes on them for their good Am 9:4 and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not demolish them; I will plant them and not uproot them. Jr 1:10

7I will give them a heart to know Me, Dt 30:6; Jr 31:33; 32:40 that I am Yahweh. They will be My people, and I will be their God because they will return to Me with all their heart. 2Ch 6:38; Jr 29:13

8“But as for the bad figs, so bad they are inedible, Jr 29:17 this is what the Lord says: in this way I will deal with king Zedekiah of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem — those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. Jr 44:1

9I will make them an object of horror 2Ch 29:8; Jr 15:4; 29:18 and disaster to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace, an object of scorn, ridicule, Dt 28:37; 1Kg 9:7; 2Ch 7:20 and cursing, wherever I have banished them. Jr 24:9; 42:18; 44:8,12; 49:13

10I will send the sword, famine, and plague Jr 14:12; 21:9; 29:17-18 against them until they have perished from the land I gave to them and their ancestors.”