The Good and Bad Figs
After Nebuchadnezzar has carried Jeconiah, officials, craftsmen, and smiths from Jerusalem to Babylon, the LORD shows Jeremiah two baskets of figs placed before the temple. One basket contains very good figs and the other extremely bad ones, and Jeremiah confirms the obvious contrast when the LORD asks what he sees.
A1fter Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, as well as the officials of Judah and the craftsmen and metalsmiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the LORD showed me two baskets of figs placed in front of the temple of the LORD. 2One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early, but the other basket contained very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten. 3“Jeremiah,” the LORD asked, “what do you see?”
The LORD explains that the good figs represent the exiles from Judah whom He Himself has sent to the land of the Chaldeans for good. He will keep His eyes on them, bring them back, build and plant them, and give them a heart to know Him so that they return to Him fully as His covenant people.
4Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 5“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Like these good figs, so I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. 6I will keep My eyes on them for good and will return them to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. 7I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with all their heart.
The bad figs represent Zedekiah, his officials, the remnant left in Jerusalem, and those dwelling in Egypt. They will become a horror, disgrace, and curse among the kingdoms, and the LORD will send sword, famine, and plague against them until they are consumed from the land He gave to their fathers.
8But like the bad figs, so bad they cannot be eaten,’ says the LORD, ‘so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials, and the remnant of Jerusalem— those remaining in this land and those living in the land of Egypt. 9I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them. 10And I will send against them sword and famine and plague, until they have perished from the land that I gave to them and their fathers.’”