Add parallel Print Page Options

Chapter 24

The Two Baskets of Figs.[a] The Lord showed me two baskets of figs placed before the temple of the Lord.(A) This was after Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had exiled from Jerusalem Jeconiah,[b] son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, the artisans and smiths, and brought them to Babylon. One basket contained excellent figs, those that ripen early. But the other basket contained very bad figs, so bad they could not be eaten. Then the Lord said to me: What do you see, Jeremiah?(B) “Figs,” I replied; “the good ones are very good, but the bad ones very bad, so bad they cannot be eaten.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 24:1–10 For Jeremiah, as for Ezekiel, no good could be expected from the people who had been left in Judah under Zedekiah or who had fled into Egypt; a future might be expected only for those who would pass through the purifying experience of the exile to form the new Israel.
  2. 24:1 Jeconiah: alternative form of Jehoiachin (cf. note on 22:24).

Two Baskets of Figs

24 After Jehoiachin[a](A) son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the skilled workers and the artisans of Judah were carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, the Lord showed me two baskets of figs(B) placed in front of the temple of the Lord. One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early;(C) the other basket had very bad(D) figs, so bad they could not be eaten.

Then the Lord asked me, “What do you see,(E) Jeremiah?”

“Figs,” I answered. “The good ones are very good, but the bad ones are so bad they cannot be eaten.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 24:1 Hebrew Jeconiah, a variant of Jehoiachin