Sweet dreams of figs
1The LORD, in a dream , [1] showed me two baskets of figs [2] at the Temple. The LORD did this after Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar exiled Judah’s King Jehoiachin—son of former King Jehoiakim. [3] Nebuchadnezzar took the king back to Babylon with him, along with kingdom officials, skilled artisans, and smiths.2One basket held tasty figs, freshly ripened. The other basket had all the figs you’d never want to eat. Disgusting. 3The LORD said, “Okay, Jeremiah, what do you see here?” I said, “Figs. Some are good and some aren’t fit to eat.” 4The LORD gave me a message to deliver.
Good fig Israelites
5Here’s what the LORD and God of Israel says:Those good figs represent all of Judah’s people I have deported and exiled to Babylon. 6I’m going to keep an eye on them and make sure things go well for them. I’ll bring them home, too, and help them prosper and live in peace. I’ll replant them in the land and keep them there. I’ll build them up and not tear them down.
7I’ll give them a heart that’s open to me. And with all their heart, they’ll devote themselves to me. I’ll be their God, and they will be my people.
Bad fig Israelites
8The LORD said:I’m going to make the people of Judah who stay here resemble the disgusting figs no one wants. That includes Judah’s King Zedekiah, [4] his officials, and the people who stay in Jerusalem along with those who escape to Egypt.
9They can go, but wherever they go they’ll take the stink with them. People everywhere will insult them and treat them as disgraceful and cursed. 10I’ll tail them. Then I’ll hit them with famine, disease, and swords. I’ll do it until they’re dead—with every last one erased from the land I gave their ancestors. [5]
