24After Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah and the officials, the craftsmen 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 placed in front of the temple of the LORD.H3068H7200H8147H1736H8384H3259H6440H1964H3068H310H5019H4428H894H1540H3204H1121H3079H4428H3063H8269H3063H2796H4525H3389H935H8942One basket had very good figs, like those that ripen early; the other basket had very poor figs, so bad they could not be eaten.H259H1731H3966H2896H8384H8384H1073H259H1731H3966H7451H8384H398H74553Then the LORD asked me, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" "Figs," I answered. "The good ones are very good, but the poor ones are so bad they cannot be eaten."H559H3068H7200H3414H559H8384H2896H8384H3966H2896H7451H3966H7451H398H74554Then the word of the LORD came to me:H1697H3068H5595"This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: 'Like these good figs, I regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I sent away from this place to the land of the Babylonians.H559H3068H430H3478H2896H8384H5234H1546H3063H7971H4725H776H3778H28966My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them.H7760H5869H2896H7725H776H1129H2040H5193H54287I 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.H5414H3820H3045H3068H5971H430H7725H38208"'But like the poor figs, which are so bad they cannot be eaten,' says the LORD, 'so will I deal with Zedekiah king of Judah, his officials and the survivors from Jerusalem, whether they remain in this land or live in Egypt.H7451H8384H398H7455H559H3068H5414H6667H4428H3063H8269H7611H3389H7604H776H3427H776H47149I will make them abhorrent and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a byword, an object of ridicule and cursing, wherever I banish them.H5414H2189H2113H4467H776H7451H2781H4912H8148H7045H4725H508010I will send the sword, famine and plague against them until they are destroyed from the land I gave to them and their fathers.'"H7971H2719H7458H1698H8552H127H5414H1