1 The army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon captured Jehoiachin, the king of Judah, and his officials, and all his skilled workers [DOU] and took them to Babylon. After that happened, Yahweh gave me a vision. In the vision I saw two baskets of figs that had been placed in front of the temple. 2 One basket was full of good figs, like the kind that ripen first. The other basket was filled with figs that were bad/rotten, with the result that they could not be eaten.

3 Then Yahweh said to me, “Jeremiah, what do you see?”

I replied, “I see some figs. Some are very good ones, but some are very bad, with the result that no one would eat them.”

4 Then Yahweh gave me this message: 5 “This is what I, Yahweh, the God whom the Israeli people say that they worship, say: ‘The good figs represent [SIM] the people of Judah whom I exiled to Babylonia. 6 I [SYN] will ◄watch over/take care of► them well, and some day I will bring them back here to Judah. I will establish them and cause them to be strong. I will cause them to be prosperous [MET], and I will not exile them again. 7 I will enable them to desire to know [IDM] that I am Yahweh. They will be my people, and I will be their God, because they will return to me sincerely.’

8 But I, Yahweh, also say, ‘The bad figs represent [SIM] Zedekiah, the king of Judah, and his officials, and all the other people who remain in Jerusalem, and those who have gone to Egypt. I will do to them like people do to rotten figs. 9 I will get rid of them, with the result that people in every nation on the earth will be horrified, and will hate them because they are evil people. Wherever I scatter them, people will make fun of them, and say that they are disgraced, and ridicule them, and curse them. 10 And I will cause them to experience wars and famines and diseases, until they have disappeared from this land which I gave to them and to their ancestors.’ ”

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